The wooing of Daniel Meade
by Windcall
Summary: What would it take to make Daniel Meade realise how he feels for Betty Suarez...six steps from friendship to love! Chapter 6 is up!COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

THE WOOING OF DANIEL MEADE

Disclaimer: I do not own any part, character, overall plot or ideas of Ugly Betty. I do not make money with this story which is done solely for my own fun.

A/N: Hi all. Just a small warning: I am a French Canadian, thus my first language is not English…any destruction of the beautiful Shakespeare language is my own fault. I did this pretty fast I guess I was inspired…and I've been out of the fanfiction writing for a good while …so I don't have a beta. I hope it's not too bad. Thanks for your understanding.

First: Make him kiss you

Betty was angry…life was not being good for her this week at all. Walking furiously down the Manhattan street, after work without caring where she was heading, she could only replay over an over in her head theses horrible scenes.

First, she had discovered Walter kissing passionately a girl in that café where she had decided to go on a whim to get a hot chocolate in order to warm her up in that frigid February morning. Fury had been enough to keep her warm after that and the chocolate ended up on the two lovers heads, satisfyingly ending up the embrace. Of course she had broken up with him…that was the second time he had cheated on her after all. Besides she was already thinking about letting go of the relationship, so it was not so much that she was hurt he didn't loved her, she was hurt that he would rather cheat then tell her it was over.

Then, her heart set to pursue Henry at work with a vengeance; she had discovered that he already had a girlfriend!! A beautiful, charming, smart, young girl from back home…who came in town as a surprise for valentine's day. Great, just great! How could the guy flirt and hit on her when he had such a paragon of a girlfriend already?! Wait…maybe she had read him wrong? Maybe she had been dreaming things that were not really there? That wouldn't be the first time. She was so clueless when it came to relationship. But even Daniel had told her that he thought Henry was interested by the looks he was sending her way. And after all, Daniel was the expert on that kind of things, if he said so, then it was probably true…but Henry was the last guy she could think of who would play on the emotions of a girl. Maybe he wasn't sure about his feelings toward her or his girlfriend, maybe, just maybe she still had a chance… Growling with frustration, Betty tried to firmly squash the hope trying to worm it's way up her heart. That was enough, enough of false hope, of crazy dreams, of believing that people could see more in her than what meet the eyes. It was never going to happens. "_Face it Betty, _she thought_, the world is not a good place for people who are different, if you don't want to be alone, you better downgrade your expectations and your dreams, because theses are never going to become true. Men will always see you as their best friend, good old reliable, no-nonsense, solid Betty who can take care of everything in a minute, but never as a passionate lover."_ She wondered what could be worst: falling in love and believing that this time was the real one and discovering she was wrong after years and two kids, or going on alone, refusing ever to believe that love could happen and becoming a bitter old bat.

Trying valiantly to keep her depressing circling thoughts at bay, she turned her mind back to Mode, that usually gave her comfort and a thrill of self confidence…but not today. No, today, thoughts of Mode just made her spirit sink lower. She sighed, she was no longer angry… now she felt just…defeated. Mode didn't mean Daniel and Amanda and Cristina anymore…no, now Mode meant Daniel and Alexis…and that was an altogether different ballgame. Sure the staff used to look her down, to dismiss her as non important, to sometime be cruel but there had always being a feeling of excitement to her job. There was always something new to learn, some big name of fashion or a new collection sending waves of excitement throughout the magazine. There was always something or other going on, deadlines to meet, last minutes disasters to mop up, Daniel to keep out of trouble….it was endless, it was crazy, it was fun…and it was no longer her problem. Oh she still had her job…kind of. She was back at being nothing else but a secretary, taking phone calls and typing letters. The mood in all the departments was cautious and serious, almost fearful, and Daniel… well, Daniel no longer looked at her as his assistant. Alexis was always there, and it was her who took the decisions with Daniel now, her who stayed for late night work sessions, her who got Daniel's ears. To keep the peace after the near riots that her sudden appearance had created, and to keep the business going, Alexis and Daniel had come to an agreement of sort…to work together. That was great in theory, but in reality, Alexis gave her the creep. She was Daniel's brother turned sister and knew him well, well enough that Daniel didn't seem to need Betty anymore as a friend and that was really depressing. That gorgeous woman was doing more than just giving her the usual pitying, dismissing look Betty usually got…there was a malicious and calculating glint in her eyes the Betty didn't like one bit. She could not even see Daniel alone anymore…Alexis was always there, playing interference in a subtle way, so subtle that there was nothing that Betty could really complain about. Daniel was all over himself with happiness at working hand in hand with his long lost "brother", and in the eyes of everyone Alexis was the soul of understanding and cooperation. Still, if the atmosphere at work was any indication, the whole staff was feeling out of sort, tiptoeing around, waiting for things to either explode or cool down by itself.

Betty sighed again and looked around…it was slowly getting dark and her wandering feet had got her in Queens near her home, but she really didn't feel like going there on a Friday night to watch TV while her beautiful sister went out for one party or another, with a nephew who knew fashion better than she did and a father who was in trouble with emigration. She needed something to keep her mind away from endless problems, something that could make her feel wanted and in, something that would help her forget everything that was wrong. She uneasily eyed the blinking neon sign of a bar on the other side of the street. Daniel used to say that a few drinks might help her relax and loosen up a bit, maybe he was right. It was not her usual way of dealing with things, but her usual ways have deserted her this week, staying hopeful and in control was beyond her, she needed something more powerful than that. Besides, she had enough of being the one always keeping everything from collapsing, the strong, reliable sort, even tempered, mild mannered…she wanted to be wild, even for a little while. So what if she stopped trying to be there for everything and everyone for a few hours, would that be so bad? Especially since there wasn't really anyone to be there for, right now. With a determined stride, she crossed the street and squaring her shoulders, she entered the bar.

The ringing of his cell phone woke up Daniel from deep sleep, that and the nudging of the red hair beauty by his side.

" C'mon sweetheart, can you please either take the call or throw the phone out the windows?" came the sweet complaint in a deep throat seductive growl on the other side of the bed.

"Huh…yeah, right" he answered with a rasp voice, groping to find the phone in the pocket of his jacket, crumpled in a heap on the floor near the bed.

"Daniel Meade" he finally slurred sleepily in the phone.

"DANIEL MEADE! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SISTER!? WHERE IS SHE?" a voice shouted in his ear, making him wince and distance the phone from his head.

"What? Who is this?" Daniel asked confused.

"It's Hilda you moron, and you better tell Betty to come right home! I know she is with you working on something, it's always your fault when she is late!"

"Whoa there! Whoa!" Daniel glanced at the small digital clock near the bed and saw that it was almost three in the morning. "I didn't see your sister after 5:00 pm when she went back home. I told her to have a good weekend. We're not working on anything together right now." He stopped for a beat then sat up in the bed. "Are you saying she didn't go home?"

"Oh my God! Yeah…she didn't show up for dinner so dad and I kept her a portion warm and waited for her. I just woke up on the sofa but she's still not here. I tried her cell phone but it's not answering. I must have left half a dozen messages on her voice mail already. It's not like her not to call when she is late! You are sure she didn't tell you something about where she was going? Did she met with somebody, had a date, talked about a reunion, a friend she was going to see…anything?"

"No, I'm sorry, she just said "Bye" like every night. And I don't know anything about her personal life."

"Oh…I thought you were friends…It's true she doesn't talk about work as much as she used to…" She took a breath before continuing, "Okay, look, I'm sorry I woke you with this and shouted at you. Since she is not with you, there is nothing you can do. I'll keep calling her and I'll take a look around, I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Bye"

The phone went dead before Daniel could do anything about it. He was well awake now and wondering where Betty could be and why she was not talking about work anymore at home. He tried to remember everything that she had told him this week to get a clue of her whereabouts and came up empty of anything but work related chatter. That made him frown in confusion. That could not be right, he was sure that there was at least a moment in the week where there had been more than just work talk between him and his assistant…but the more he thought it over the more he realized that Alexis had been there all the time and that there had been no moment to talk alone with Betty. That was strange, he used to talk to her all the time about nothing and everything, and he used to know immediately when something wasn't right with her. Now he could not even remember what her mood was when she said goodbye for the weekend. Her sister was right, it was not like her to disappear like that and not call, she was the responsible one. She was either very upset and not wanting to talk to anyone or having so much fun she forgot everything else or being in danger…none of the possibilities were very reassuring. If she was upset, he should have seen it and made sure she was okay, talked to her or something. If she was on her way to having a lot of fun, he should have see it in the way she dressed…well, ok maybe not in the way she dressed, but by her smile, her demeanor…friends should know that kind of stuff…right? Betty and him were friends, that's what she said…good friends even…right. He was her friend but he had no clue as to what happened to her this week. He knew that this friend stuff with Betty was going to be more complicated then he originally thought. Still, she have saved his butt more than once, guess like this might be pay back time to be a good friend to her too. And he was a little worried…no much but…well, no one who knew Betty could believe she was out at three in the morning without telling anyone about it.

He slithered out of bed quietly and got dressed, careful not to wake up his companion. Good thing he was not in his apartment, now he had a reason to go before morning and a chance to check around to see if he could find Betty.

His limo was waiting in front of the apartment building, he told his chauffeur to take him to queens slowly, in case he was to catch a sign of Betty on the street, while trying to puzzle where she could have gone. He called her on her cell phone but got her voice mail immediately.

"Betty…it's Daniel. It's 3:00 AM, Hilda woke me up because you never got home…she is really worried about you, nobody knows where you are. Come on, pick the phone, take your messages….and please call me as soon as you do...okay? Bye."

Suddenly, he saw something….there in the window of that bar…

"Stop the car!" he shouted. The limo immediately parked and Daniel was out running to the other side of the street where he could see trough the big window of the bar a visibly veerrrry drunk Betty, dancing and smiling surrounded by a group of laughing men.

Daniel was seething and almost carrying Betty down the street toward her house. He had to half wrestle her out of a gaggle of drunk guys who didn't want her to go, pay her, rather large, bill and tow her outside over her shrieks of denial. He was not amused, at all.

"Daniel, she wined, what are you doing? I was having fun for once! Let go of me!" She drunkenly wrenched her arm out of his hand, almost losing her footing and ending sprawled on the sidewalk…she got her balance back only with the help of a nearby wall.

He swirled around to face her with all of his anger storming to get out.

"What the hell were you thinking? Hilda his half hysterical with worry, she got me out of bed and worried too…and I find you in a bar, getting drunk, ready to get raped by a gang! Didn't you think to call your sister or your father? You're cell phone is closed, didn't you think of checking for messages? What is wrong with you?!!!"

Using the wall to try and keep her balance, Betty could only look at him with shock before reacting. "Ooooh…look who's talking! Or Hilda…God…it's okay for both of you to go and get drunk and…and get laid…" she burped and sailed on, "…but when I try to have a little bit of fun, to be around people who even for a few hours thinks I'm great and funny and cute and who actually wants to be with me, then I'm that bad person and…and you shout at me!"

Her eyes filling with unshed tears, she gulped and tried a few steps with the help of the ever dutiful wall at her side. " Nobody wants me, Walter cheated on me, Henry already got a great girlfriend, Hilda have a son who adores her and you, " she wriggled her index under his nose complete with a frown and a stare, "you have you're great, wonderful brother, now sister with you…or is it a brother inside the body of a sister?" She thought for a moment, " No maybe it's more accurate to say it was a sister imprisoned in the body of a brother then killed by a helicopter and reborn as an evil supermodel with the secret agenda of turning you into a copy of your father…or something…"

Between his clenched teeth, Daniel could only growl "Alexis is not evil, nor a supermodel! Besides we're not talking about her or me but about YOUR inexcusable behavior tonight!"

"Inexcusable! Inexcusable! What is so inexcusable about wanting a little bit of love? A little bit of a kiss, a little bit of the illusion that I'm beautiful! I want that too! I have a right for that too! Like you're not right out of one of your lady love's bed!!" In her angered, passionate tirade, she tethered dangerously out of the supporting help of the wall and almost fell at Daniel 's feet.

Catching her before she fell on her face, he roughly righted her and backed her up on the wall behind her. He was beyond angry now, what right had she of sending his own sex life back in his face. She scared him tonight, he just saved her from her own folly on the nick of time, she was courting disaster in that bar. But instead of thanking him, she was accusing him…of what?…Of being a men?

Speaking slowly, he whispered in her ear, "So, that was what is was all about, wasn't it? You're wallowing in self pity because you don't have a boyfriend and your hormones are running wild. Well, if it's kisses you want, maybe I can help you with that. Being your friend and everything…"

Looking in her big, round, dazed eyes behind the red glasses, he approached his lips to hers, and slowly caressed them with the expertise of a real life play-boy. She didn't stand a chance. As soon as he sensed her relax and accept the embrace, he asked for entrance and went for the kill, with all of his anger to back him up. But he was not ready for the wave of emotion that came with her responding to the kiss. It crashed on him like a tidal wave and washed out everything he ever knew of kissing. Nothing in his life has ever prepared him for a moment like this. Even with Sophia, maybe especially with Sophia, there was never emotions coming from the woman involved in his relationships. The difference was staggering. He cared about her, she cared about him, he knew that. It wasn't love, but boy, did even that little bit made kissing a whole lot better!

He couldn't help himself, he glued the length of his body against hers and deepened the kiss as much as could be done without merging their two bodies into one. When he came out for air, his hands shaking, his heart beating an hundred mile a minute, her words slapped him back into reality with a bang.

"God, I'm sooo pathetic, I don't know how you can put up with me. I disgust even myself!" She slowly started to bang her head on the wall behind her.

"What? Stop that, will you?! Daniel took her head in his hands to stop her from hurting herself…it seemed it was his night for doing so. " What are you about now, Betty?"

She sighed a huge sigh and with annoyance plainly inscribed in her voice, answered, "Walter was not my first boyfriend you know, I mean I have been kissed by a number of different guys over the years, of course it's nowhere as much as the number of girls you've kissed, no even close, but still I'm no a green girl without any experience, you know." She babbled very fast to a perplexed Daniel, trying to follow all of the obscure explanation. Before he could prompt her to continue, she did so:

"Here I am, drunk, getting my boss so mad at me that he has to kiss me to shut me up…and, of all the rotten luck, it turns out to be the best, most incredible kiss I have ever experienced in my life! So the secret of a good kiss for Betty Suarez is to get drunk and get the guy pissed! Good thing I won't remember a thing in the morning.."

Daniel could do nothing but grin. Looked like he was not the only one moved by that one in a million kiss! He was almost glad there was a good chance she would not remember anything, he would have to think about this one.

In the meantime, he better get her home, she was swaying dangerously against him, if his experience was any good about drunken behavior, and he could have a master degree in the field if any existed, she was about to get sick and then pass out. He would rather the first was not on him and the latter happened not to far from her bed.

He grinned again as he helped her down the street toward the nearest trash can….


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks everybody for your reviews! It is greatly appreciated. Here comes the second installment. Enjoy!_

**Second: Make him your special Valentine**

Betty glanced once more at Daniel through the big oval windows separating their offices. She caught herself almost immediately this time, and with a movement of exasperation, went back to work.

She could hardly believe that her boss came to her rescue in the middle of the night last Friday. She barely remembered anything, only what Hilda had told her, shrilly and with a great amount of words and arms movements, over the pounding of her poor head the next morning.

It looked like her little moment of revolt has degenerated into nothing else than a drinking bilge, the worst one of her life too. She remembered closing off her cell phone and smiling encouragingly at a man at her side, making toasts to anything that came to mind at the time…after that, only bits and pieces, mixed with bits and pieces of dreams. In one of those, Daniel was shouting at her and kissing her. That dream made no sense, but every time she remembered it, a shiver of pleasure coursed through her. That made no sense either. Daniel was her boss and at some time, before Alexis materialized, he had been a friend, she had never thought of him or looked at him in a romantic way. Only now, at least that was what Hilda said, Daniel had come to her rescue, dragged her out of a potentially dangerous situation, brought her home sick as a dog and putted her to bed himself.

Then, this week, he has come to work earlier than usual and took a moment alone with her in his office every morning, to look at the work day ahead of them and make small talk with her. She was not sure what to make of it. He was gallant and charming, smiled a lot and didn't utter a single word about the disastrous previous Friday night incident. No comments, no smirk or knowing smile, no sly jokes, no nothing, not even in a roundabout way. If Hilda has not assured her over an over that she owes Daniel a debt of eternal gratitude, she would have been sure that Daniel had no knowledge of it, that he was never there at all. She was uncomfortable with that. She wanted to thank him for getting her out of that bar, but since he never brought it out and because she was so horrified about her behavior that night, she was reluctant, to say the least, about broaching the subject.

At least, work, this week, was somewhat easier on her than last week, just because he took time to ask her about how she was, what she was thinking about some of the projects and overall made her feel like she was part of the team again. Of course she was not as involved as she used to be, but at least she was involved. Alexis was still everywhere of course and just as overwhelming, but knowing that Daniel cared and counted on her made it easier to bear.

For the rest, she avoided Henry as much as was possible and refused any calls or any form of communication with Walter. The good part was that Hilda believed that the second break up with Walter and the hurt of being cheated on once again was responsible for her little drinking party, which was partly true. The tongue lashing he got from her sister was soon becoming the stuff of legend in the neighborhood. The story going around was that she scalded him so raw that not a girl in Queens would accept to go out with him now. That's what she'd heard anyway, many times, since she actually heard none of it, being still out cold when the little drama unfolded on the front step of the house. This, of course meant that the whole of Queens knew of her little mishap and of the supposed reason for it. That had gotten her a lot of sympathetic glances all around, three free cup of coffee, one free geranium to cheer up her room and two invitations for a date on Valentine's Day. At least it also got Walter off her back as he didn't dare follow her around as he had done on their previous break-up.

The other good news was that her little bit of nonsense on Friday night actually did what it was supposed to do. She was feeling better…well at least, she did, after the hangover was over. The dark mood that was on her last week was gone, and she was ready again to dream, to trust and to live life on her own account. She was not changing or downgrading her expectations just for a few minor drawbacks. The future still looked good and life worth taking risks for. She was back at being the self-assured Betty, and she was not letting anyone take that from her again. Not even on Valentine's Day.

Her heart still missed a beat when she heard Daniel's voice calling for her on the intercom at the end of her workday "Betty, would you come over here for a minute, please?"

* * *

Daniel looked at Betty closely as she was getting up from behind her workstation. He has been doing that a lot in the last three days. He was carefully watching for any signs that she remembered what happened between them on that fateful Friday night. As of now, there was not enough evidence to signify one way or another. There was a little bit of awkwardness, some reluctance to talk that could be read in the way she twisted her mouth and a strange look that crossed her eyes, twice, when she thought he wasn't looking her way. That look, he could not start to fathom what it meant, but it made his breath hitch in his throat, twice.

He had not wanted to talk about her misadventure, he was very careful to stay off that topic,. He was still recovering from the reeling effect of that kiss, to tell the truth. Before talking to Betty, he wanted to be back in control, to know where he stood. Right now, he felt like God had taken a sledgehammer to the world and flung everything sideways. He was having problems getting back his bearings and his footing. He was not sure he liked what this…thing had done to him. If there was one part of his life where he exactly knew how things worked and how to play the game, it was the sex and seduction part. Everything else was not really up to him: the feelings his parents have for each other and for him, his feeling of inferiority to his older brother, the reappearance of Alexis, even the job of editor in chief at Mode was not something he was truly in control of. Now the one part of his life that he used to feel he could never get wrong, now felt…different…not so nice, clean cut and simple anymore.

Even his nights has taken a definitive turn for the worst. He could not stand to have company theses days, he was too troubled to get interested in the intricate dance of flirting and wooing. So he had been going to bed alone for the last couple of days. He had problems falling asleep and when he finally did, it was to dream of that kiss and of the body that he had felt vibrating so close to his. He always woke up sweating, with a hard on and cursing Betty Suarez with a vengeance, several times a night. Last night he had resorted to the help of sleep pills just so he could get a few hours of real, untroubled rest. He was thinking of not doing that tonight however. He didn't want to start having to rely on drugs for sleep. And nope, he definitely did not miss having the dream, no, he hated what it was doing to him…absolutely hated it. In an act of near desperation he had gone back this morning to that spot, by the wall near her home, as a way to try and exorcise his obsession with that stupid kiss. He had half expected to find it still sizzling from the heat of their embrace, but no, there was nothing to indicate that there, on that very spot, life had gone weird on him all of a sudden. Well, weirder than it already was anyway…

He had to find another way to solve this, to get it out of his system. Maybe he had gone about this the wrong way. Instead of trying not to talk about it, maybe it was better to confront it…Maybe talking to Betty would show him there was nothing real there, just his imagination going crazy. Maybe even kissing her again might prove that the other night was just a fluke, a one in a million moment that could never happened twice. Yeah, he liked that idea…! That way he could get rid of this tonight and never be afraid of his dreams again. He felt a pang of regret at the thought, and a wave of fear immediately following it…what if he already was addicted? What if the dream never stopped even confronted with the reality of its impossibility? What if he kissed her and IT happened again? Worse still, what if it happened for him but not for her? Oh God! What if she feels it too, liked it too much ? What then? In his sudden panic, he back pedaled as fast as possible on this very slippery slope….okay, okay…not a good idea. No kissing Betty…he was not ready for that, not yet, maybe not ever!

He passed a trembling hand in his hair and looked up at Betty who was closing on his desk, surrounding him with the smell of her apricot shampoo. He gulped. There really was only one way out of this, it was necessary to find a way to break the spell without kissing her…

"Hum, Betty…" he stopped, his throat suddenly dry.

"Yes Daniel?", she looked at him, serious and attentive as always.

" I was wondering…. are you doing anything special tonight?" he asked, trying his best to look nonchalant.

"Tonight?" Betty reacted, looking at him with surprise. "You mean tonight as in…tonight February the 14th?!! " She looked at him, expecting him to remember what day it actually was and whatever hot date he had in store to celebrate it.

"Betty, I know what day it is! And no, I'm not going out with a date tonight." Seeing her raised eyebrows, he felt the need to explain, "Valentine's day is for that special person in your life, not for a one night stand." He hesitated a moment, "I had something organized for Sophia but…"

"Oh, yeah…I understand. I'm sorry." She gave it a few seconds before adding, "What I don't understand, is what it has to do with me."

"Right." He got up to sit on the corner of his desk, a little closer to her, "From our…ah…discussion the other night, I understood that you too don't have anybody special to treat you tonight, and since I don't really want to wallow in self-pity on the couch with a beer …I thought that I could maybe bring my friend Betty to a pizza and a movie." He let that sink for a few moments before adding fast, "Well, if you don't have anything already planned, of course!"

She grabbed a strand of her hair and started to twirl it nervously, "Gee, I don't know Daniel… I refused two invitations tonight because I want some time off before going into another relationship. Going out with you on Valentine's Day…it could look like…you know… a…a date…"

"Oh come on, Betty! We were seen dinning together at a chic restaurant, it even ended up as a big picture in the society pages and nobody thought anything at all was going on! You and I are the last two person on earth anyone would think are dating." He gave her his best puppy eyes, "Besides, we haven't really talked in ages and I had a lot of fun that time with the pizza, the karaoke and the walk on the bridge. I kind of miss it…Please?" After all, if there was something he knew how to do, it was which buttons to push on a girl to get her to accept a date!!

She threw her hands in the air in defeat, "Fine, fine, whatever!" Seeing his big victorious smile, she added for good measure, " At one condition… no romantic movie!"

* * *

Sitting at the rear of an almost empty theater, with a huge pop-corn half hiding the old James Bond movie going on on the screen, they both felt like kids pretending to be running away, hiding in the dark.

"You know", Daniel whispered to Betty, "I saw that movie with one of my first girlfriend on our very first date." He smile ruefully, "I tried to make that slick move, you know…pretending to have a cramp in my arm and carelessly putting it behind her back in order to get closer…?" he demonstrated the move while talking, putting his arm over the back of her seat.

She raised her eyebrows, "Yeah, even I know that move….What happened?"

He grin, "I miscalculated and slapped her soft drink all over her. It took a lot of hard work to get her to accept a second date."

She giggled softly, "So even a play-boy has to learn his trade the hard way!"

"Yeah." He moved a bit on the hard seat in order to be facing her. "Listen, Betty…I wanted to say…I heard what happened with your boyfriend…Wilbur…, and I wanted to tell you I'm sorry it happened to you too. I mean, I kind of know how it feels, so if there is anything I can do…."

She looked down, partially obscuring her face with her long hair, "Thanks Daniel. I'm okay, really. I was thinking about breaking up with Walter anyway."

"Walter, right. Hum, was that the reason for your…ah…" he tried to find a word that was as delicate as possible.

"My drinking last Friday? Some of it, yes." She looked up and searched his eyes, a little bit anxious.

" I wanted to thank you for coming for me like that. I'm so sorry that you had to do that. I hope my behavior was not too…huh…bad. Hilda said I was a wreck." She bit her lower lip, showing her braces.

"What do you remember?", he fidgeted a little, getting nervous.

"After the four margaritas…not much. I don't remember you being there at all…at least I don't think that I do…It's kind of fuzzy, like trying to remember a dream. Did you shout at me?" She looked at him, accusingly.

"Ah…just a little bit. I was worried about you. You didn't want to get out of that bar, so I had to… you know…encourage you to do it…forcibly. I'm sorry."

She sighed, "It's okay. It was my own fault for going there in the first place."

He started to loosely play with her hair with the hand resting behind her on the back of her chair, "Betty, why did you go there at all? I mean, there are plenty of people who care for you. You could have gone home to cry on your sister or your father's shoulders, you could have talked to Cristina…or even me. Why a bar, of all places?!"

She rested her head on the back of her chair, closed her eyes, enjoying the slight feeling of his hand in her hair, "I'm not sure, Daniel. I wasn't just sad, I was angry I guess. Hurt too. I didn't want to cry, I didn't want to talk. I just wanted to stop being Betty the sensible for a few hours and be Betty the women. I thought that with a few drinks, I could loosen up a little and be that, the kind of women that man like. The kind of women that guys don't cheat on. I don't know. I guess I did not like who I was and the way my life was going, so I tried to do things differently." She shrugged, "I guess I proved that I don't know how to do things differently, so I'm back at being the good old, sensible Betty." She slightly wince at the edge of bitterness that she heard in her voice.

She opened her eyes, only to drown in Daniel's very own blue ones. His face was intent over hers,. His right hand was still caressing her hair. She froze, captured by the intensity of his eyes.

His voice was a gentle whisper, getting closer, slowly, "Well, I'm personally very glad because I kind of like the good old, sensible Betty."

Mesmerized, she whispered back, "She's boring…and ugly."

He smiled that slow predatory smile she have seen him give to so many girls, "Not true, she's special and fascinating."

He was so closed now that she could feel the warmth of his breath on her face, so close that she felt rather than heard the slight hitch in his breathing when she licked her suddenly parched lips. So close that she could almost feel him already, her every nerve waiting, hoping for the moment of contact…she started to close her eyes…

Only to gasp with shock when the lights suddenly came on and people started to talk and move around them. The movie was finished...and so was the moment.

Daniel sat back in his chair, cursing under his uneven breath. It had been close, too close.

He got up and offered her his hand. "Let's go, let's get you back home."

Helping her into her coat, Daniel could only think: "_I need a very, very cold shower…and at least 6 sleeping pills. God, if it doesn't work, dreaming of her is going to kill me!!_"


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks everyone for another great bunch of reviews! You all really make my day! Well, we now come to the crux of the matter. This chapter is the original idea for this short story. I had a lot of fun writing it, I had a big grin plastered on my face the whole time. I so love to torture my characters!! I hope you have as much fun reading it…_

**Third: Let's make him jealous!**

Betty came to work the next morning looking even more bedraggled and frumpier than usual…she have woken up late and have grabbed the first thing he hand has encountered in her closet without looking twice at it. She was so rattled that she did not notice the incredulous and half horrified looks that her coworkers sent her way as she hurried down the halls to her office.

Her mind has stubbornly refused all night to wander away from that moment in the theater when Daniel had almost kissed her. She shook her head in unconscious denial…it could not be real. She must have read him wrong. He has said so himself; he and she were the two most unlikely people to fall for one another. He was Daniel Meade, for God's sake! The guy who could and did have Supermodels running to his bed at a snap of his finger! He was surrounded by incredibly gorgeous women…the only sore thumb in his entourage was her. It was impossible…yet she remembered all too well those incredible, warm blue eyes so full of emotions gliding on her face until it stopped on her lips, that sweet, handsome face coming closer….a delicious shiver ran through her at the memories. God, have she wanted that kiss or what! But he has looked so composed afterward, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Maybe she hallucinated that look on his face…must have been the darkness, mixed with some wishful thinking on her part. She groaned with disgust at herself while sitting down at her desk. How was she supposed to face Daniel this morning when she had done nothing but dream of him all night? How in heaven was she going to be able to look at him without zeroing on his lips? She feverishly checked the agenda of the day and let out a long sigh of relief…he was in a meeting all morning! Good. She had some time to destroy, or at least forget the images running in her mind…if not, she was in for a very bad day.

"Whoa! Betty…please, put that Mode black t-shirt on, will you?" Said Amanda's voice behind her.

Betty turned, only to catch the black t-shirt in the face, the blonde receptionist holding it between her fingers, looking away from Betty with a haughty air. The t-shirt wiggle near Betty's ear as Amanda was shaking it, probing Betty to take it, "Come on, take it, take it …and put it on. We don't want any other accidents around here, do we?"

"What? What are you doing?" Betty snapped, grabbing the t-shirt out of Amanda's hand. "And would you please look at me when you're talking to me?"

Amanda raised her index in her general direction, still looking away, "Ha, ha…do you have it on?"

Exasperated, Betty grouchily put the t-shirt on before growling, "Yeah, yeah, it's on. What the hell is going on?"

Amanda turned around with a look of relief on her face. "Good! Betty what were you thinking of, this morning? Even you know better than to put theses colors together!" Amanda pushed three raised fingers in front of Betty's face. "Three! Three people tripped and fell since you came out of the elevator, blinded by your outfit, or so stunned by it they forgot to look where they were going. So, in behalf of all the staff and as an urgent security measure, I'm here to ask you to keep that t-shirt on ALL DAY LONG!"

As a blanching Betty weakly tried to formulate an answer, Amanda once more put her index up to stop her, " Tut, tut…No arguments! And don't try to explain anything! I don't want any disgusting images of you and…whoever!!! Seeing that 'morning after' look on your face, clashing with the rest of you, is enough to make me want to get sick! So, just keep the t-shirt on and… try not to move to far from your desk!" Amanda turned away in a huff, hurrying back to her post.

Betty could only manage a shocked whimper of assent at the retreating back of Amanda, before dejectedly letting he head fall in her arms on the desk. Three people? 'Morning after' look? Could her day get any worst? She half had the urge to call in sick and get back to bed to hide under her sheets. She sighed….she had work to do, reports to finish typing that Daniel would need this afternoon, calls to make…she would have to make do with what the day had in store for her.

Half the morning went by without any other catastrophe and she started to relax. Working, and making sure to stay close to her and Daniel's office, took her thoughts off the night before. Her mind was clearing from the lack of sleep and her usual enthusiasm and cheerfulness were slowly coming back to her.

She should have known it could not last….

The first omen of the upcoming storm was the circulating rumor that eventually came to Betty attention through a giggling girl, Rita, from the legal office with a document needing Daniel's signature. The girl babbled something or other about a dare that Amanda and some guy took before starting to make up like crazy in the lobby. Betty only listened to her with half an ear, not really interested in Amanda's sex life and obnoxious behavior. She had other things on her mind at the moment, like the fact that Daniel was due back any time now and that she was getting nervous at the prospect. She let Rita's excited chatter wash over her and made the occasional appropriate sound when necessary to get the gossip done and gone as fast as possible. Until her name thrown in the middle of the Rita's rambling, suddenly catched her ear and her wandering attention.

"What? Wait! What did you just say?" She watched the girl bubbling with excitement in front of her with a feeling of upcoming dread. "I didn't catch that last part, sorry. I was thinking about something else...would you mind saying that again?"

"Of course!" Rita smiled with delight, "They are coming over here soon…that friend of Mr. Meade and that slut, Amanda…so that he can kiss you…" Catching Betty's blank look, she elaborated, " For the bet, you know? You lucky girl! He is quite dashing, and so wild!"

Feeling blood draining from her face, Betty smiled painfully and asked almost fearfully, "What… exactly, is the bet?"

"Oh, Amanda told that guy, what's is name…Bach, Bleck…"

Betty felt like fainting and groaned with despair, " Becks."

"Yes! That's it, Becks! Well, Amanda told him he was not as hot as he thought he was and so he said he could kiss any girl from supermodel to scullion into a swoon if he wanted to. So Amanda dared him to prove it. They went to the studio where those girls are getting ready for this afternoon shoot so that he could kiss a model to prove his point, and then they are coming here, for you."

Betty weakly nod, "So, I'm the scullion, right?"

"Exactly! The one and only!" she beamed at Betty, then, her face lightening up even more, "Oooooh, do you hear this?…I think it's them!" She scurried to the hall to get a peak, turned to Betty once more, nodding, "It is them! I'm off…good luck Betty!" She disappeared after a saucy wink and a wave, leaving Betty to confront what, from the sound of it, was the whole office descending on her with her impending doom.

* * *

Daniel was kind of satisfied with his morning work, he mused in the limo ride back to Mode, while Wilhemina and Alexis made small talk in front of him. The annual meeting with all the editors and creative directors throughout Meade publication had gone better than expected. It was true that Mode was doing good, being still the flagship magazine of Meade inc. with sells even a little higher than last year at the same date. Alexis and he were still learning to work together, but so far they have been able to dance around one another without a direct confrontation. He knew that everybody was holding their collective breath, expecting an explosion between them, but Daniel was trying his very best to reassure his staff and the board of directors. The fact that their father was out of jail, after paying an astronomical bail, and working non stop at defending himself with a entire team of the best lawyers in the country was helping to show that things were still in control. That meant that the vice-president of Meade was heading the morning meeting, which was easier on Daniel and Alexis both, then squirming under the hard eyes of Meade Sr. At least it was so for Daniel. He was still no sure how Alexis was reacting to all this, especially considering that she seems to be despising their father acutely. That surprised Daniel a whole lot…he had always assumed that Alex had been their father favorite. He was not at ease enough with his new sister to talk about it, but he guessed that it would have to come, eventually. For now, just getting used to having him…her, back and learning to work together was sufficient.

The other good thing about the morning was that he had had too much to do to think of Betty and his abysmal lack of control last night. Every time his thoughts turned in that direction, he could feel his face going red with chagrin and shame. That little handful of a girl had somehow turned him upside down into someone he did not recognize. He must have been no older then seventeen, the last time he had let himself lose control with a girl, and he had being almost dead drunk at the time. There was something very uncomfortably wrong with the way his assistant had been able to get under his skin this fast, and he had no idea how to go from here. For now, he just wanted to try to get back in control of things. The sleeping pills last night had help some, and he felt that if he could just go trough the rest of the day without seeing Betty too much, he might just feel like his own self enough to try and plan ahead for the next step after another good night sleep. He smiled with relief. It felt good to be planning ahead instead of feeling like a feather fluttering in the wind, going nowhere. He squared his shoulders and felt some of his uneasiness leave him as he got ready to leave the limo parked in front of his office building.

He should have known that nothing was ever that simple when Betty Suarez was involved…

He came out of the elevator with Wilhemina and his sister behind him, only to find the halls and the offices strangely empty of anyone. For a moment he wondered if today was not a weekend or if the lunch hour was not already started, but a quick look at his watch, confirmed his belief that it was neither, but it did not explained that little mystery. Where was everyone? Walking toward his office, he started to hear a commotion ahead, like a crowd at a party, or at a ball game…whistling, clapping, shouting…. He started to get anxious and hurried up his steps.

He was right, the noise really came from the direction of his office. As he came closer, he spotted the edge of the crowd, and rapidly forced a way through the laughing, catcalling throng of his staff, only to come to face with the reason for the whole circus in the middle of the room. Betty, his Betty, in the arm of a man, being thoroughly kissed under the eyes of the entirety of the staff.

"What the hell is going on here?!!" he roared at the top of his lungs. The sudden silence answering his furious question was deafening.

The man embracing Betty, let her go and turned to face him. To Daniel utter shock it was his old friend in sin, Becks. That was le last person he had expected to see kissing Betty. Henry or Wilbur…Walter, he could deal with, they were easy to upstage, not really dangerous. But this was Becks here kissing Betty, and Becks was something else entirely. He was the same race as Daniel, went for the same kind of girls with the same smooth skill and deadly charm. He was another predator in his turf and Daniel had never had a stronger urge to utterly destroy the face of another human being with his own fist than right now. Panic raced around his body along with fury. If Beks have felt the same kind of passion from Betty's kiss than he did…and if it had the same kind of effect on him, then Daniel was in deep trouble. Becks would not stop pursuing Betty before he got her completely, at his mercy.

To try and keep from jumping on the man, Daniel turned his attention to the crowd. In the deep silence he growled menacingly trough clenched teeth, "This is a magazine, not a bar. I will not allow this kind a behavior from anyone working here. Go back to work, all of you." As everybody seemed transfixed and frozen into place, he barked viciously, "NOW!"

Everybody but Betty, Becks, Alexis, Wilhemina and Daniel, satisfyingly scampered immediately in all directions, a look of slight fear written on their features.

Then, Daniel turned to the wretched man still at Betty's side and ordered in a crisp voice, "Becks, my office. Immediately." He then turned to enter his office without a look behind him.

He put his attaché case on the floor near his desk very carefully, took of his coat and hanged it in his closet, never looking toward the door as he heard Becks come in and close the door, trying to find some comfort from the familiar tasks.

"You want to explain, what that was all about, Becks?" Daniel finally turned around, to confront the man, only to see that Betty was also in the room, standing behind Beks, sprawled in the chair in front of the desk. She looked ready to die on the spot, white as a sheet and swaying slightly on her feet.

He furrowed his brow severely at her, "I don't remember inviting you along Betty. I think you can wait outside."

As usual she stood her ground and squared her jaw in defiance, "It's just as much my fault as his, Daniel."

That made his head reel with fear. Flopping down in his chair he could only growl trough the pain in his chest, "Explain."

Becks shrugged, eyeing Daniel with curiosity at his strange behavior, "There's nothing much to it, Daniel. Me and that cute receptionist you have, got into an argument about my ability to treat all woman of any looks or station in life to the perfect kiss , she dared me to prove it by kissing two woman on the opposite sides of beauty and station, so, of course, I took the bet." He smirked a little, " Kind of like that bet you took in Switzerland with those three beauties…"

Daniel looked at the man with his eyes wide in disbelief, "You turned the whole office into a circus for a bet?" He switched his astonished stare toward Betty, "And you agreed to this?"

She looked down in shame, "Well…, everyone was there, cheering, it was almost lunch time and…it was faster and it seemed… more efficient to just do it and get everyone back to work sooner than to argue about it endlessly and lose precious time." Her voice was low and hesitant, almost breaking at the end, and when she risked a glance at her boss under her eyelashes he could se that she was fighting down tears.

Daniel could not help himself and stood with a sigh to get a tissue, giving it to her without a word before sitting down on the corner of his desk. Betty wiped at her eyes under her glasses and hesitated before continuing in a small voice, "For what it's worth… I'm really sorry. I know you are angry…and disappointed…in me, but….you're not going to fire me…are you? "

Beks threw his hands in the air and came to stand between Daniel and Betty, "Oh come on! Don't get melodramatic!! It was just one small kiss, for God's sake! Nobody gets sack for one tiny prudish kiss in the workplace! If it was reason enough, Daniel would have to fire himself several times over!!"

Daniel gave a tight smile at that, almost in spite of himself. His anger was slowly abating and giddy relief was replacing it. There was nothing romantic about their kissing. It was all about a stupid bet.

Not letting his eyes off Betty's face for one minute, Daniel nodded and said soothingly to his assistant, "For once, Becks is right. I'm not angry at you Betty, and you could never disappoint me, even if you'd try. Trust me, I would never fire you over something that is not your fault."

Daniel took Betty's chin to bring her head up so that she could read the truth in his eyes, "Okay?"

She nodded and smiled a little, sniffing in the tissue, her wet eyes locked to Daniel's.

Becks looked from Daniel to Betty, a little bit miffed by the sudden change in the atmosphere. His eyes widened when understanding struck him and a glint of mischief appeared soon thereafter. He cleared his throat, making the two lovebirds lost in each others eyes in front of him jump and Daniel releasing Betty's chin fast.

Grinning, his eyes sparkling, Becks announced, "Well, now I'll have to reel in my prize for winning that bet, I guess." Smiling to Betty, Becks continued, "I believed that receptionist and I agreed that if I won, my prize would be a very hot date with the best kisser of the two woman…I guess that means…you Betty. I'll be at your door at nine o'clock sharp tonight," he winked at her, while she gasped in surprise. "Don't dress fancy, you won't keep your clothes on long enough for it to matter."

While he was suspecting a strong reaction to his little declaration from Daniel, Becks never suspected something quite that heavy handed. He was struck completely unaware when Daniel's fist landed straight on in right cheek, strongly enough to make him fly back into the chair behind him and then straight to the floor in a heap.

Daniel stood over his former friend, rigid with fury, while Wilhemina and Alexis sprinted into the room to see what the commotion was all about.

"You have thirty seconds to get out of here, Becks. And if you approach Betty by less than an hundred meter, I'll have you charge with sexual harassment…in three states." Daniel declared to the man on the floor in a deadly voice, before glancing at his sister and asking, "Make sure he get's out." At Alexis stunned nod, he hurried out of the office and disappeared down the hall.

All eyes in the room returned to the sprawled Beks on the floor holding his jaw and wincing with pain. He threw an accusing glare at Betty, "Holy shit, girl! What did you do to him? I've never seen him this jealous in my life!!

Mouths agape in astonishment, Wilhemina and Alexis could only turn their stare at Betty with open disbelief, while Betty feeling trapped and overwhelmed, wailed, "But I didn't do anything, it can't be me!! I wouldn't even know where to start if I'd try!"

As the two other girls stare turned from amazed to thoughtful, considering the possible ramification of this new development, the roar of laughter escaping from Becks was only slightly dimmed by the panicked babble coming from Betty, "I knew I should have stayed in bed this morning!!"

_TBC_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Sorry guys for the long delay…Life caught up with me and threatened me with dire consequences if I did not take care of the endless chores of daily life. So…to relieve my guilt, I bring you a long chapter…My! Can I ramble on sometimes or what! Hope you like it!_

_I now have a beta! This is soooo great! This story should be better now...no more grammar errors! Thanks so much Jen!_

_**Vivalina:** Wow! J'ai été super surprise et très contente de voir une critique en français! C'est très gentil à toi d'avoir pensé à le faire. Je suis heureuse que cette histoire te plaise. J'espère que tu trouveras la suite tout aussi intéressant! _

**Fourth: Turnabout is fair play…**

Betty hid at her desk for the rest of the day, barely looking up from her keyboard. She had her long dark hair mask her face from the world, not meeting anyone's eyes or talking to anyone, not even on the phone. Daniel hadn't reappeared after that …scene in his office. In her present state, Betty was rather glad that he was not there. She could not look anyone in the eyes right now especially Daniel. But at the same time, she resented that he left her to deal with the aftermath. She could not understand what had happened to him to punch Becks like that…Daniel could not be jealous; that was impossible. They were friends, good friends even, but nothing else. Only Becks' lack of respect had brought Daniel to defend her…there just could be no other explanation!

Surely, that almost kiss the other night, that look in his eyes in his office, that tight feeling in her stomach…it was not…could not be desire! She sank her head into her shoulders even more at the crazy idea, cringing in confusion. She felt the eyes of everyone from the staff staring on her with curiosity and delighted horror, made her want to disappear under the floor. Of course, the whole episode between Becks and Daniel was on everyone's tongues; it was impossible to keep it under wraps. If only Daniel was around, the tongue wagging would have been less conspicuous. Betty could hear the whispering behind her, feeling the fingers pointing and sensing the wave of incredulity splash on her hunched back. It was clear that people were having a field day speculating and gossiping over what was going on between her and her boss, and she knew that there was nothing she could say to explain any of it. She could not even complain about their gossiping because she completely understood their feelings on the matter. She felt like she should be out there with them, saying "It can't be true. That thing with Sophia must have addled Daniel's brain!" But Daniel was nowhere to be seen, so Betty endured with nothing but a low simmering pond of resentment and a seemingly non-stop fascination with her computer screen.

Five o'clock came and went, and the office around Betty slowly emptied of people. Little by little, she felt herself relax some as the stress of everyone's eyes on her disappeared gradually. Eventually, she heard the voice of the last of her co-workers fade along the hall leading to the elevators. She stopped pretending to work and finally let herself sit back in her chair with a long sigh.

What now? Maybe she should just give her resignation, she thought with disgust. What a mess! She could hide for an afternoon, but not for weeks at end. Maybe things would eventually die down if nothing further happened between her and Daniel to reignite people's interest, or if something else more outrageous happened to focus their interest somewhere else. Maybe she should take her vacations immediately and hope that on her return, things would be back to normal. Or she could take those two weeks vacation to try and find another job…a job with an average boss and some real friends.

Still, she could not help but feel her heart squeeze at the thought of losing her place at Mode, after all the efforts she had made to fit. She had a place here. It has taken some time and there were still some rough edges, but the people around here more or less accepted her as the right assistant for Daniel. She gave so much of herself to this job; she would hate to leave it…even if the last few weeks have been hard. Besides, resigning looked too much like running away with her tail between her legs. She still had SOME pride left…Okay, so a vacation would probably be a better idea. With a little bit of chance, it would be enough to untangle her mixed emotions about her impossible boss and come back as the Betty who could leave no one with a shred of a doubt about her lack of aptitude to catch Daniel's eyes. She smiled thinly at the irony, she must be the only girl in New York wanting to put herself down in everyone's eyes in order to keep her job. She did not think it would take all that much effort to convince people. After all, it was only through the morning's strange circumstances that the idea of Daniel Meade and Betty Suarez together came as possible in people's minds. Actually, it was more than just a strange idea; it was a completely alien one. If someone had come to her three weeks ago with such a story, she would have think that person was insane and dismissed the idea to the "too weird for thought" realm with a shrug.

Unfortunately, that was before the strange dream of Daniel kissing her near a wall happened, before that "date" at the movie, before that matter with Becks today and especially, before she started to feel strange longings when looking at or thinking of Daniel. She could not put her finger on the exact moment when she started to think of him differently, but there was no denying that it was the case now. Her feelings were not clear, she was not sure where the friendship stopped and where the attraction began. There was no way she could make sense of this mess today. Maybe after a good night sleep, things wouldn't look so dire in the morning. At least the weekend was here, she would have two whole days to try and make head from tail of things. She could always call Daniel on Sunday and leave a message that she was taking her vacation time if things came to the worst and she felt incapable of confronting her co-workers and Daniel come Monday.

Sighing, she shook herself out of her morose thoughts and started to gather her stuff …it was time to go home. She was fishing her purse out of her drawer when she heard the elevator ding loudly in the silence of the office, and its door opened. She groaned under her breath and prayed that it was a security guard or one of the cleaning crew and not one of the staff members of Mode coming back for a forgotten item. In the state she was in, she would either break down crying or bite the head off anyone crossing her path. Neither sounded very appealing.

Considering the kind of luck she had today, though, she was almost sure that it would be the last person on earth that she wanted to see…

* * *

Daniel's anger at Becks had sustained him throughout the rest of his day. He supervised the afternoon photo shoot, called his father's lawyers for a status on their progress, canceled his date for the evening and absolutely refused to think of Betty Suarez... to his deep annoyance he was being only mildly successful on that last endeavor however. Every time his thoughts wandered in that direction, Becks' smirk and comment came back to him with a vengeance to immediately rekindle his anger. Anyone looking at him with questioning eyes or making a comment that was not about the immediate matter at hand found themselves on the receiving end of such an icy glare that word spread quickly in the staff that it was preferable to avoid speaking or crossing the path of Daniel Meade today. 

He has canceled dinner tonight, wanting to make sure to be available in case Becks did not get the message and tried to still have a date with Betty. He had a vague idea of keeping an eye on her house tonight around nine o'clock, or even maybe invite himself in for one reason or another. If Becks did come to Betty's house…Daniel was not sure what he would do, only that it would probably be necessary to have someone around to try and prevent him from killing Becks. Betty was not some featherbrain model. She was fragile in her self-esteem, and men like Becks had no right to play with her feelings. Daniel's anger was coming back just as strong as it had been before lunch. He swore to himself that he would protect her. Becks would not approach her, talk to her or, if Daniel had any saying in it, even see her from afar. He just had to remember Betty's wide fearful and dejected eyes, valiantly trying not to cry, to make Daniel wish that Becks was still around so that he could demolish his face again. How dare the guy make a bet and bring Betty in the middle of it without any thoughts to her wishes and feelings? It was disgusting, unmanly, and plain stupid.

He knew he had been like that, not even all that long ago. He had been selfish, arrogant, and uncaring. He had used women for his own benefice, but it had always been women who were using him too in the process. He had no memory of trying to seduce a girl without or with little experience, not since his teenage years anyway, or callously using someone to prove himself. He was hoping that his reaction to this whole mess meant that he had changed. He cared about people's feelings now, or at least he tried to. At first, he had no idea how to do that, but Betty had shown him just by being so easy to read. He could see it in her face the moment he started to slip into his old behavior, and when he was doing well, her whole body would radiate appreciation and pride which made everything all right with the world. Betty had become his personal barometer and teacher. The pain and insecurity that Becks had put into her felt to him like a personal affront, it hurt him too. It was inadmissible and impossible to forget.

To make Betty into the very opposite of every canon of beauty was almost worse. He was furious at Amanda for proposing Betty as the ugly duckling around Mode. Betty was not ugly and far from inferior from any so-called beauty. She was beautiful in her own unique way. Her eyes had that wonderful, shiny brown color reflecting immediately everything she felt. He liked to see those eyes on him; she always regarded him with that unwavering trust, making him feel like he could do anything. In her eyes, he could see himself as he was. She did not see him as his father's heir, as his big brother's shadow or even as this playboy the world had made of him… she was the only one who only saw him as Daniel Meade with no other expectation than that he do the best he could. Her skin was perfect and so smooth and the memory of her lips was enough to make his heart double its rate. He shook his head to clear it…he would definitely have to have a little talk with Amanda…but not today. He doubt he could keep his temper today, he would end up either firing her or strangling her. He thought better to wait until his anger had cool down before confronting her…but he had stop at her desk before going down to the studio, to tell her that we wanted to talk to her first thing on Monday. The fear on her face had been very satisfying.

Tired and still angry, he decided to call it a night after working with the photographer and the models until he felt that everything was perfect. He only had to get his coat in his office, and he would be ready to catch a quick dinner before going down in Queens to keep an eye on Betty.

He was not ready however to see the object of his very thoughts standing at her desk, visibly on her way home.

"Betty?" he froze in his tracks, "What are you still doing here? You didn't have to wait for me."

She smile weakly, "No, no…I wasn't waiting for you…I mean, I had something to finish, and …now it's finished, so I'm going. Bye Daniel."

She made a few tentative steps toward him, she had to pass by him in order to get to the hall and the freedom of the elevator, but he was not moving.

"Hum…Daniel? Do you mind? I need to go home." She made a gesture in the direction of the hall behind him, but he just looked at her suspect fully and stayed there.

"Why are you in such a hurry to go home? You don't think that Becks is going to show up, are you?"

Betty was tired and in no mood to try and understand Daniel's weird actions tonight, she tried to rein in her temper, "Of course not! Even if he did, I would not go with him…Look Daniel, it has been a very long and very strange day. The only thing I want to do right now is to go home, eat, take a very hot bubble bath, and sleep." She hesitated and continued, "I'm thinking, perhaps, of taking my vacations in the next two weeks...if you don't mind."

He reacted immediately, "What? Why?" Seeing how tired she looked, he took matters into his own hands, "Let's not take hasty decisions. You look ready to drop on the spot. Wait a moment here, don't move. I'll get my coat and I'll give you a drive, we can talk in the way to your place."

She almost whined, "Daniel…it's not necessary…" but he just cut her off with a look and a sharp "Stay!" before rushing into his office.

Abandoning any hope of salvaging the rest of this horrifying day, Betty slumped down back on her chair, massaging her temples, trying to keep her burgeoning headache from growing into a full fledge head throbbing migraine, and her feelings from merely annoyed to royally pissed off.

Daniel was back in no time. "Come on Betty, let's get you home." He gently took her arm to ease her up from her desk, and then escorted her into the hall and into the waiting elevator.

Once comfortably ensconced in the deep recess of the limo seat, she could only sigh with contentment and close her eyes. This was way too nice, the tainted windows prevented the glare of the lights on the snow from hurting her eyes, the warmth inside was relaxing, the gentle music was soothing and Daniel's hand on her arm made her feel cared for and protected. She was so enjoying it that she barely heard Daniel's voice giving his chauffeur their destination.

She let herself float in the moment, not wanting to go back to reality just yet. She felt the limo smooth motion underneath her and felt herself relax even more. She was safe and warm and cozy, slowly her headache receded until it was nothing but a memory.

She finally opened her eyes when she felt the car stop, only to find Daniel was looking at her with a strange expression and behind him what she saw was not her house but his apartment building.

"Why are we here?" She asked with dread creeping back on her. Was this day EVER going to end?

Daniel's hand crept up her arm to gently cup her face, saying soothingly, "It's okay, Betty. We need to talk and you're too tired to go out, so I'll call in some food, and we'll talk over dinner. There's no way I'm letting you go home like this, confused and hurt. We really need to straighten things out." He took her hand and pulled her behind him, out of the limo.

Betty could not say no to him when he was like that, all tender and rational. She struggled to be rational too… he was right…they needed to talk.

Once in his apartment, Daniel sat her down on his couch while loosing out his tie, went to call some Chinese take out. Betty had just let the couch take all her weight and refused to think of anything, letting her mind wander…her eyes following dust mites in the red sunset rays.

Much too soon for her peace of mind, Daniel was back, casually dressed in a jean and a black t-shirt with two white wine glass in his hands. He smiled at her and handed one to her. She took it with a feeble "Thanks", more out of habit than a real desire to drink. Nevertheless, her first sip confirmed Daniel's excellent taste in wine, it was spicy and chilled, the warmth of alcohol spreading in her stomach, helping release some of the knots still tying her up inside. She gave Daniel her first real smile today and was rewarded by the way his face lit up in answer, and his eyes lost some of the worry she could clearly see there.

"Betty, I…" Daniel started then faltered to a stop, gulping down half of his glass. How to make her understand his worry without sounding jealous and condescending? She was fragile and precious. He needed to be sure that she felt nothing for Becks, that there was no danger there for heartbreak. He could not let her get hurt, could not let a rake like Becks take away the glow, the resilience, the happiness in Betty.

"Yes Daniel?" She prompted, hoping again all odds that this 'talk' was not going to go down the way the rest of her day has gone. She did not relish the thought of a lecture on the dangers of man by Daniel Meade nor a not too subtle hint to discourage her from believing anything was going on between the two of them. She could almost see both discourses starting to form behind his eyes and burning the tip of his tongue, ready to unleash on her. At the thought, she could feel the stirring of the emotion that she had tried valiantly all afternoon to keep down, growing inside of her, pushing back confusion, tiredness and self-pity…an emotion she rarely left out, knowing the kind of damage her Latin background could inflict, Anger. She was emotionally wrung up by the roller coaster this man in front of her have put her through in the last days, and he was sitting there in front of her, ready to wash it all up with some well rehearsed garbage. Well, she was definitely not in any mood to make it easy on him…

"Yes Daniel…" she started with a false calm voice, while her hand on the delicate crystal flute was hardening, "I know. You want to tell me that men like Becks are dangerous, that I can't believe anything he tells me because they're all lies, that his kiss was nothing but a game for him, that he could hurt me and never think twice about it. You want me to understand I don't have a chance to save myself from guys like him because I'm so young and sweet, fragile, and naive…"

Throughout her speech, Daniel's smile had grown bigger and bigger while his head was bobbing up and down and a look of relief had crept on his feature. He thought he was saved from saying all this, that Betty understood his worry, and that it had nothing to do with being jealous but everything to do with protecting her from Becks. The guy was dangerous, she had to understand that, had to be careful not to start believing any of Becks sweet words…

He missed all the danger signs and could only feel his confidence coming back to him.

Betty was on a roll, she did not know what her feelings were about Daniel, but she sure knew how she felt right now…her anger was mounting with every shade or relief and cockiness she could spot growing back in Daniel's face. She had an urge to knock his assurance down with a wham! See how he would cope with having the rug swept out from under his feet. She smiled dangerously…she knew she could do that, she was a woman after all.

Betty place carefully her wine glass on the table beside the couch, before standing up to confront Daniel once more, looking him in the eyes "I'm so lucky to have Daniel Meade to protect me from men like Becks. The little poor Betty Suarez from Queens would never had seen through Becks' act, of course not. She would have been completely dazzled by that kiss; she is so stupid, even though she knew it was for a bet, even though it was in front of the whole staff. She is so naive she might even think he liked kissing her! God's forbid!" Her voice was gaining force, and Daniel was losing his smile. There was no denying the anger in Betty's voice and demeanor now. He stood too to try and calm her down. "Huh, Betty, I never.."

"Cut it off, Daniel! I know exactly what you mean!" She started to advance on him, planting her finger in his chest with every other word. Befuddled, he could only retreat from the onslaught, until his back was to the wall…literally.

Nose to nose with Daniel in the encroaching darkness of the evening, she threw her anger at her wretch day in his face, "Poor little Betty is so green, isn't she? She has no real knowledge of love and desire, doesn't she? There is no way, she could withstand a gifted kisser like Becks and still be able to stand on her own two feet afterward, isn't that right?" She grabbed a handful of Daniel's t-shirt in her hands, trying to get through to him. "Isn't that right, Daniel? I'm not the kind of woman who would make any man kiss me like that if it wasn't for a stupid bet. It's so pathetic, poor Betty! People like that have to be protected from themselves! But Betty can be trusted to bear the finger pointing and the gossips after! Let's protect her from evil and throw her to the wolves!"

While she tried to get her breath back, Daniel tried to hedge in tentatively, "No Betty! I swear…"

Furious again, she pushed him back onto the wall, "Don't try Daniel! You're just like Becks, you always lie and charm you way out of trouble with women! But I'm not as green and stupid as you think I am. I'm Betty, remember? I know you! What I don't know is why you tried to kiss me the other night, but I'm sure it just as good a reason as Becks had!"

She lowered her voice, "Why didn't you do it, Daniel? Were you afraid it would be even worst than your worst nightmare?" She released her clasp on his t-shirt and splayed her hand on his chest. "Or were you afraid to like it?" She bit her lower lip, her eyes glowing with tears of frustration and anger. She hissed, "Why don't we make a new bet of our own? If I kiss you now, I bet you can't resist kissing me back…and it won't mean a thing… isn't that how you want it?"

She closed in on him, while he stood frozen, mesmerized. Betty's lips were just a few breaths away from his, and her body heat was ensnared with his. He gulped painfully through his shallow breath, and she smiled that dangerous smile again, almost against his lips. She breathed, "If I win, I get another kiss." Daniel could barely follow the tread or her words, through the haze in his head and the lust dancing in his veins, he whispered, "And if I win?" He closed his eyes, managing only a dim thought _"As if I could win…" _before hearing her answer, "If you win, you can send me back home…"

Her lips touched his, and he was lost. Her first touch was like the caress of the sun on the petals of a rose, warm and soft and full of life. The second more pressing one was like the first tremors of an earthquake, vibrant with suppressed power and an unbound eagerness. He moaned in utter defeat and open himself to what he knew was the complete destruction of everything he once was and believed in. The touch of her tongue on his was like both fire and water, it quenched the thirst he have had of her touch since that fateful Friday night two weeks ago, but it ignited a raging need for more, much more. Her kiss tasted of passion, fury, and danger.

Daniel put his arms around her and brought Betty's rigid body against his, answering her kiss with one of his own, seeking to mutate her anger into something else, something easier to deal with, something he did not dare put a name to. He poured every ounce of his kissing skills into it, every bit of his need of her, every parts of his soul, willing her to understand what she meant to him. Slowly, Betty's hands crept from his chest to wound around his neck and her body relaxed from its aggressive stance to mold itself unto him. Feeling her kiss change, the anger fading, Daniel felt hope blossoming in his chest and risked breaking the kiss, easing himself inches away fro her in order to have a look at her face.

The sight that greeted his eyes was a welcome one, Betty's cheeks were flush red, her breathing uneven, her eyes were glazed with passion and Daniel could not help but grin, his mind saying over and over _"Thanks God, thank you, thank you, thank you…."_ But deep in her eyes, swimming in the back, Daniel saw something that stopped his mind's happy rambling…fear, a fear that mirrored his own. The fear you feel when you're on the edge of something but unsure as to where the edge actually is, afraid of stumbling down without wanting to, scared to fall without even noticing, until it is too late.

Daniel pressed her body closer, and bending his head kissed her again, tenderly, trying to ease her fear, asking for her trust. Trying to tell her without words that he would never let her get hurt, even if she did fell over the edge…maybe especially if she did…the sudden thought shocked him into easing out of her embrace slowly once more to gaze into her eyes. He wanted her to fall for him, he realized. He wanted that more than anything. It was time to take some risks.

He hugged her and whispered in her ear, "You were wrong, Betty. It means something…your kiss mean something…. it means everything. I would never play games with you. I would never intentionally hurt you. You're my best friend, my savior…"

Betty murmured without looking at him, "I don't understand…the other night, at the movie…"

"I wanted to kiss you then…so much, believe me Betty, but I'm just a man, and I got scared. Scared of what it would mean for our friendship, for our jobs. Today, I saw Becks kiss you, and I got jealous…"

She looked at him with so much astonishment that he started to panic. After all, he had no idea how she felt about him.

Betty started to smile, then began to giggle, and then came laughter…after a short while she was holding on to a bewildered and scared to death Daniel for support. She was roaring with laughter so hard that her face was covered with tears, and she had problems finding her breath.

When she finally got back into some control, she croaked, "Oh Daniel! I can't believe it! It's so completely ridiculous! Becks is the last guy on earth I would be attracted to, you should know that! He's so shallow and full of himself…" another laugh attack prevented her from finishing. Daniel painfully finished the phrase, "He is just like me…my old pal in sin…"

That brought Betty back like a snap, "Don't say that Daniel…ever!" She told him almost angrily, "You are nothing like him! You are smart and you care for things, for people. You know when you're in over your head and when you are, you're not afraid to admit it and go for help! You can feel deeply and even make a commitment, you care for your family enough to try and understand them. You can be hurt and you can dream…those things are not the mark of a shallow man, it's the mark of a man who is trying to become….more. No, you are nothing like Becks…you, I can trust."

Daniel smiled with some relief, "Really? You think all that?" At her shy nod, he continued, "So…you like me at least a little bit?" Daniel brought her back into his arms while she blushed and sighed a small "yeah…" He kissed her nose with some renewed hope, "And you find me somewhat moderately attractive, right?" Betty's blush deepened but she bravely looked him in the eye as she smiled and put her arms around his neck, "Moderately so, yes." He trailed soft kisses along her hair line, closing in her ear where he whispered, "Attractive enough to tempt you for another few kisses? Or were those just because you were angry? If so, I'm sure I can find a reason to get you angry with me again. You were so incredibly…hot." Betty tentatively took a small nip at his earlobe, smiling at the shiver that ran through him afterward and whispered back, "I think I can find it in me to kiss you without the help of anger…" She turned her head so that their lips were inches apart and closed her eyes in anticipation, his breath already descending on her….only to break apart suddenly when the ringing of the doorbell startled them both out of each others arms.

Daniel smiled sheepishly…"Looks like dinner's here…" He ran nervous fingers through his hair, "I hope you're hungry…" He started toward the door while the doorbell rang a second time…

"Ravenous…" she sent toward Daniel's retreating back.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Okay people, I'm back, but I have to tell you, this chapter was pure hell to write. Those two character were just absolutely not doing what I had in mind for them, the harder I pushed, the harder it was to actually come close to the very clear and detailed plan I had for the chapter. It fought me bit and nails every second of it and every paragraph had to be rewritten many times…I'm still not exactly please, but in the end I had no choice but to accept to let Betty and Daniel lead me by the nose on their own sweet time and pace. As a result, there will be another chapter to finish the story. In retaliation, I ended this one on an evil cliffhanger, something I had repeatedly told myself I would not do. What can I say, absolutly nothing in this chapter turned out the way it was supposed too. Can you hear the frustration in my voice? No? Well…you've been warned.

Staying on the topping of warning…I wrote the end, listening to the music of "The Lord of the ring, The return of the King," The wonderful music of Howard Shore would bring out the drama out of clams, I swear. So the end is a little bit sad…you've been warned again. If you don't like it, send your flames to Mr. Shore. Not my fault!

**Fifth: Go with the flow**

Betty awoke the next morning with the feeling Cinderella must have had the morning after the grand ball…with the certainty that everything had been a dream. The whole day yesterday felt like a moment out of time, as if the twilight zone effect had occurred throughout the day to give her an insight into the worst and the best that could ever happened to her. There was no, at least none that she could think of, other logical explanation to the hell she went through all day only to fall abruptly into fairytale land in the evening. Things like that did not happen to girls from Queen, normal, plain girls are not kissed by a playboy in front of all the office because of a stupid bet and then later on get kissed by another playboy, this time, it seems, because he cared for her. Betty shook her head at the impossibility of any of it happening for real. One kiss by a hot guy was as close to probable as her going on vacation on the space station, but kisses by TWO very handsome guys on the same day was just statistically impossible. Thus the day before could not have happened, or else a really serious glitch in space-time had created an alternate universe…

She got up with a groan, trying desperately to remember what day it was and what she was supposed to be doing today, but getting her brain to latch into real life was proven difficult without at least a shower and a coffee. She caught her reflection in her vanity's mirror as she passed in front of it and winced at the image, she did not look good or even remotely human. "_Okay_", she thought with something close to despair, "_let's make that a very dark and strong coffee._"

She more or less sleepwalked to the bathroom and it's only once under the hot sprays that her sense of reality started to slowly resurface. She was not yet back to normal, but at least she knew that today was Saturday and that she did not need to go to work, that Justin and Hilda were gone to Justin's dancing class and her father was out grocery shopping. Like all Saturday morning, she had the house to herself; it was one of her favorite time of the week…that was all she needed to know right now, the rest could wait until she kicked start her brain on caffeine. She really did not want to think or care about anything until she felt like she could actually deal with the consequences of the impossibilities of the day before.

So, she got dressed and sailed through breakfast intent on not thinking and not caring. That's probably why she almost killed herself with her muffin when she opened the newspaper and saw the headline on page three. Coughing and sputtering, trying to get her breath back to normal, she though that an alternate universe would be very handy right now, that or a sudden little trip to Oz…

On the page, before her was the thing she had to do today, the thing she was trying so hard not to remember, today was the preliminary court audience of Bradford Meade. It was written in big black letter just over pictures of Mr. Meade senior getting arrested, another of a gorgeous shot of Daniel embracing a beautiful model and the now famed one of Alexis at Fashion Week after her coming out. It wasn't fair to have reality in all its ugliness thrown at her face when she was just trying to understand what was happening to her. The picture of Daniel with one of his numerous lady love was like a slap in the face. She did not want to see this; she did not need to see this. She wanted to believe in the fairy tale of the memories, but she only had to see the kind of woman he was used to dating to feel the dread weight of reality slapping into her. The hearing was today and she knew that Daniel would need her support. Whatever had happened between them yesterday, she would not, could not leave him all alone to stand in front of the world while his father was trialed for murder. If there was one thing that was clear in the murky miasma that was her brain this morning, it was that. If only as a show of confidence and loyalty, she owe him her presence. Yes she did owe him that…but gosh…how was she supposed to face him after…after everything. She had NOT slept with Daniel, thank God for that, but those kisses after diner had not been particularly innocent either, and their hands had been, well, almost everywhere…She could not help the shiver of pure pleasure that went trough her at the memory, the very distinct and real memory. It had not been a dream. She could not have imagined it; it was too detailed, too sharp, too intense, too real.

She let her face fall into her hands, trying to get her mind to accept the truth. It could not have happened, but yet, it had. It probably should not have happened, but yet there was a feeling of inevitability about it. It spelled Trouble with a huge T, but yet, if Daniel was ready to face the music, she knew that she would too. That was the real question, wasn't it? It all depended on Daniel's reaction today. Last night, she had use all of her gut in her anger, there was none left. If Daniel gave her no sign that he wanted to finish what was started last night…then she would have to let it drop. Maybe it _was_ just a glitch in reality and things would go back to normal today, maybe it would be for the best for both of them to just go back to their comfortable friendship. She would cherish the memory and hide it deep into her secret garden and let it out once in a while on dark winter night to help her keep the cold at bay. She would be okay. On the other hand, if he gave her even just a slightly, tiny, bitsy reason to believe he really was interested…then she would not stop until she was in his arms again.

Was it love? It was definitively not what she had felt for Walter, ever. It was different from what she had felt for Henry…she had not known Henry so well, it had mostly been a very strong attraction. With Daniel, the attraction was there but she knew Daniel inside and out…she would be there for him whether their relationship changed or not. The only difference was that as a girlfriend she would help him with kisses and sweet words while as just a friend she would do it by being there when he needed it and with words of encouragement and hope. They were a team, a good one, they were close friends, colleagues, partners, and they trusted each other…they were as close as two persons could get without having sex. Getting together as a couple was just like adding a layer to an already very complex relationship, making it stronger. But was it love? She couldn't say...maybe love was different every time, maybe there was not just one feeling of love, but an array of feelings that was different for every person and every situation.

She sighed, she would not straighten all of her feelings for Daniel today, if ever, but at least she had reached a decision, she would go to court today and wait for Daniel's actions to give her a clue, she would then react accordingly. She looked at her clothes and grimaced, she had dressed casually for a comfortable Saturday at home, and she had better change into something else before going. She checked the article in the newspaper again, skirting the columns fast until she came at the information she was looking for; the audience was at two this afternoon. At least she had some time to get ready. She looked at the paper, frowning…she was going to court…wasn't there some kind of rules that you need to dress really formal in there? The only thing that she could remember was seeing some episodes of Law and Order and seeing every character entrenched in black suits. She groaned…she hated wearing black. After her mother's death, she had to wear those horrible black mourning clothes for months! Just the color was enough to bring back the acidic taste of fear and despair in her mouth. She was always so happy when she found a piece of clothing where that awful color was overshadowed by multicolor dots, stripes, flowers…anything to take away the horrible feel of the blackness. It was a small revenge, but one that she enjoyed so.

She sighed…the things she would do for Daniel. She got up and with heavy shoulders, shuffled dragging feet in the direction of the stairs, trying to prepare herself mentally for the gruel task of changing and going into the cruel world of malls on a Saturday to actually pay for a stupid black suit she would never ever wear again.

------------------------------------

Daniel sat on his rumpled bed, observing the knots in the wood of the floor while pondering his next move. Once more his bed was in disarray, not because of a wild night of passion or even a bad case of insomnia but because of the very intense dreams he has been having, again, about Betty. At least now, instead of waking feeling intensely annoyed, he was feeling…he was not sure how to name it…carefully hopeful, maybe? He had this sense of being on the threshold of something, something that made him want to smile for no reasons and look at the world at large with more optimism than he ever remember doing since he stopped believing in Santa Claus. That was Betty's doing, of course. She was the kind of person that could make the worst cynic believe in magic again.

He sighed, it was Saturday…he could not see her today; there was this preliminary thing at court for his father. Maybe he could call her and see if she would have some time for him later tonight. Yesterday night, like a complete beginner insanely overwhelmed by her mere presence, he had not even thought of setting a date for today. He was ashamed of himself and took it as the absolute proof that Betty Suarez was the most dangerous and fascinating woman to ever cross his path. Really, seriously, the first thing he have learn on the dating game, was to never, ever leave a woman without securing another date, that is, if you wanted to, of course. He had that rule tattooed to his skin to the point he was doing it without having to think about it even before he left high school. And now, in one evening and a few kisses, his assistant had destroyed single-handedly a decade of hard won conditioning. It left him both really scared to know that she had that kind of power over him, and excited to know he could feel like this. For years he had thought himself too cynical to feel any of those feelings about girls that his friends seemed to have. Passion, obsession, fascination, love, caring, fear …it was like they were speaking in some kind of alien language. At the time he had thought himself the only sane guy around and have left his friend to their dating steady, the ultimate horror, and slowly drifted towards others more like himself. He had found Beks and the rest as they say, is history. It had taken him eight years to get to the point where his former friends were, back in high school. The thought of dating Betty was….interesting to say the least. As for feelings, well…fascination was definitely there, as was lust of course, he was still Daniel Meade after all, and fear…yes there was fear there too. This could destroy their friendship, he could end up much worst than after Sophia humiliated him. He could end up without Betty at his side. He griped the sheets on the bed in his sudden panic. Yeah, fear was definitely there, it was almost enough to make him want to back up and forget the whole thing. But he knew it was too late for that, much too late. Just the thought of not seeing Betty today was slightly painful, and if the hot dreams he had about her all night were any indications, not having her in his arms in the near future would probably kill him. There was no going back, he knew that. He sighed and made a conscious effort to loosen his grip on the sheet and relax.

He took his shower and ate breakfast in the same half dreaming state. Then the phone calls started. First the lawyer wanting to be sure he would be there on time and giving him the last thought and warnings about the hearing. Then Alexis, sounding all too cheerful, gushing about the dress she have found for the occasion and almost purring with contentment about the coming showdown. Finally, his mother called, already drunk, half incoherent with tears and self recrimination. When he hung up, it was almost 11:00 Am, and there was still no messages on either his answering machine or his voice mail from Betty. He could not believe he was the one standing near his phone, jumping with eagerness and heart betting faster every time it rung. Annoyed with himself, he took the phone and put it back on the table, twice, before finally gripping it and pushing the memory button that was Betty's cell phone number.

He could not help but smile when he heard her answer with her usual clip voice, "Betty Suarez."

Trying for a nonchalance he did not feel in the slightest, he answered back, "Hey Betty, it's me."

"Daniel! Is everything all right? Do you need me for something?"

He almost groaned out loud. Of course, she had to say the word 'need'! He could not tell her how much he needed her, not now, but soon he hoped, he will. So, he just answered her the way he knew she meant it. "No, no, don't worry. There are no sudden emergencies."

"Oh! Good!" Did he detect a little hint of disappointment in her tone? Wait! What was that noise in the background? Music? People chatting?

"Uh Betty.. What's that noise? Where are you? Am I interrupting anything?" He felt his heart clinch. Not only was she not nervously waiting near the phone, she was out, having fun. Maybe she was with a guy, maybe she had a family thing and did not want to invite him, maybe she did not think that what happened yesterday was anything special, maybe she…

"Oh! I'm at Macy's; I needed to do a little shopping this morning. This place is a crush, I barely have space to move."

"Great…Hum…listen, I forgot to tell you yesterday that I have this court thing today for dad, so I …" She cut him before he was finished.

"Yeah, I know. I saw it in the newspaper this morning. Actually, that's why I'm here."

Confused, he looked at the phone in his hand, wondering if the background noise was responsible for him not understanding or if it was just the famous Betty Suarez leap of logic at work here. "I'm sorry, Betty, I'm not following you here. What does dad's preliminary has to do with you being at Macy's?"

"I'm trying to find something suitable to wear at a court house, of course. I don't have anything in plain black, not that I've ever wanted to own anything in plain black, but I guess this time I really don't have much choice. This thing starts at two pm, right?"

Elation and gratitude suddenly filled Daniel with enough force that he had to lean on the counter for a moment. "You're coming? Really? Why? You don't have to, you know."

He could almost see her eyes roll with the exasperation he heard in her answer, despite all the noise behind her. "Really Daniel! You didn't think I was going to let you face all that alone, do you? I'm your friend, remember? I'll even be a good girl and wear black for the first time, and let's hope the last time, in over ten years. So, want to tell me where and when?"

"Courtroom number twelve, at two pm." He smiled, "You're sure you don't need some help for that black suit? I know a few places less crowded then Macy's where you could find one. You'd look fabulous too." The image almost made him drool. Betty looking at him shyly under her lashes, dressed in flightily dark silk the color of her hair, with only a little gold pendant nestled in her cleavage…he was startled out of his daydream by Betty's voice. "Daniel? Daniel, are you still there?"

He hastily cleared his voice, "Huh. Yes! Yes, I'm here. Sorry. You were saying?"

"I was saying that no, I don't need help. I'm going to wear this thing once and then give it to charity, so I'm not going to buy fancy or anything. I'm on the lookout for something plain, practical and cheap. Frankly Daniel, I don't think you're built for any of those three things, you'd go crazy in about thirty seconds."

He pouted, "Ah, c'mon Betty, you're no fun. I'm sure there must be some rip-off Armani or something in there that would not bankrupt you. Something from last year maybe…remember that Cavalli's cashmere suit that Angela was showing in the October edition…the black one. It would look great on you."

"Daniel, nobody is going to be looking at me, I'm just buying one so I can kind of…blend in."

"I will be looking at you. You'll never blend in enough for me not to be able to find you in a crowd. You just stand out, even in the most ridiculously drab and badly cut suit in the world." He took a deep breath, "Besides, I was kind of hoping we could go somewhere for dinner afterward. Somewhere intimate and romantic." He waited a few second for her answer and when none came, he started to panic as the silence on her end of the conversation grew. _Oh shit, shit, shit… way to go Daniel_! He berated himself. It was too much, too fast. She was not used to this. Did he just screw up his chances? He franticly tried to mend things, "That is, if it's okay with you, of course. I'd never intrude…we can go back at the pizza and karaoke place if you prefer…just talk and…"

"Daniel." Her voice was soft and cut right through his hasty explanation. He gulped and almost whispered, "Yeah?" He closed his eyes, waiting for destiny to deal him another blow.

"Daniel…do you really mean that? Would you really bring me out for dinner as your date? Out there where the paparazzi, the press, the whole world can see? I mean, you wouldn't mind?"

Realization went through him like a lightning bolt; he passed his hand in his hair in frustration. Was that really what she thought of him? That he was so shallow he could kiss her like the end of the world was just around the corner on one night and then hide her in shame on the other?

"Christ Betty, what kind of person do you think I am? There's something between us and I'm not going to hide it. I don't want to. I'm not going to go to the office and act as if nothing happened, I'm not going to face the press and say that it's only rumors, I'm not telling my family that you're just my assistant…I'm proud of you Betty, I would never feel ashamed to say, to show how important you are to me. I know it will probably take some people by surprise, but hey! I'm starting to get used to scandal by now. Besides, we don't have to rub it in the press face, the restaurant I was thinking of is a quiet Italian place with the best Antipasti this side of little Italy. I never bring my dates there, or my mom…I usually go there alone a few times a year, brought a few close friends once or twice…It's a place where I can be myself, and I really would like to go there for our first date together. I think you'll like it."

He stopped, out of breath and of things to say, hoping that this time he had said the right thing, praying that she would not be scared. In the wake of his anger he had blurted out more than he intended to say, almost, but not quite all...

"Oh God, Daniel!" He heard her sniff, and her voice wavered "I did not mean to imply that you're…shallow or self-centered….or…God! You're a great, wonderful man…but I though…I don't know what I though! I'm so sorry if I hurt your feelings…and I'm so relieved to hear you don't want to hide anything…and I'm so stunned that you want this to continue…and… and I really would love to go to diner with you tonight."

He let out his breath in a huge sigh of relief and teased her to release some tension, "So you'll buy a suitable suit for both court and dinner? Something more elaborate than a scruffy 30$ polyester horror? He said the last with some of Whilemina's voice and attitude and he heard Betty's unmistakable laugh.

"All right, Daniel. I'll see what I can do, but don't get your hopes up too much, I only have about three hours left."

"Don't worry Betty. My hope is always up when I think of you."

He didn't have to wait for long for her shriek of "Daniel!!!" to explode over the phone, he almost expected to see his cell go red with the blush he knew was coloring her cheeks. Laughing, he told her goodbye and hang up over her spluttering.

Smiling, he went to his room to look at what he could wear to dazzle her and sweep her off her feet.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

She managed to find something but it was close…and it wasn't black. She could not buy something that she despised for her first real date with Daniel after all, and she was way too practical to buy, for a rather large sum, something she would never wear again. So after much consideration on her and her family needs versus what was left in her bank account, she came to the conclusion that the beautiful dark green wool suit would do just fine. It was plain but there was delicate symbols engraved in a slightly lighter green in satin over the lapel that appealed to her. It was not too formal and even if it was a little bit more revealing of her generous figure by clinging to her curves than she usually like, she though that maybe it might send the message to Daniel that she could be somewhat sexy. She also could not resist the urge to buy a new bra and hose. Nothing too outgoing of course, she wanted to feel comfortable after all…but just in case…there was nothing wrong with that, was it? Not that she hoped things would go further…but, oh well! Who was she trying to fool…she did hope that the date would finish in a more intimate way. She really hated the feeling of uncertainty that comes with starting to date with someone new. She knew Daniel pretty well, but was unsure as to how fast and how far she wanted things to go and had no idea how to send subtle messages to him when she wasn't to sure as to what kind of message she was sending by dressing this way, or in the way she was suppose to act. The delicate and precise choreography of flirt and seduction had always been way out of her reach of understanding, all those double meaning talk, half smiles and sultry long looks….she sighed. Daniel knew her; she hoped that he also knew that she could not play that game well.

She walked up the courthouse stairs at a quarter to two and manage to find the right courtroom just by following the throng of the press that was fighting for a chance to interview anyone of importance relating to the case. She saw that both Alexis and Daniel were being surrounded by a press of bodies shoving microphones and camera in their faces. She barely had a chance to catch Daniel's eyes with a wave of her hand when a commotion at the end of the hall heralded the arrival of Daniel's father. The whole group of people standing around the entrance to the court room just shifted its attention to the center character in their little drama and moved to intercept Bradford Meade.

Daniel was at her side in a heartbeat, "Hey…So you found something…not black, after all." He smiled that devilish sexy smile of his. "I like it, it's different and at the same time it's just exactly you." He took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. "Thank you for being here, Betty. It means a lot. I can't wait for this circus to be finished so that we can have that quiet dinner together."

Betty squeezed his hand back, "Are you really sure about that Daniel?" He raised his eyebrows at her in surprise. "I mean, I keep expecting to wake up and discover this is all a dream, It feels like a dream, something stolen from real life. I know I'm not your type…I guess I just don't want to get hurt."

"Betty…I…what I'm sure about is that I like you a lot and that I want to be with you and go to dinner with you tonight. I'm sure that I want to know you even better and I'm also very sure that you look very sexy in that severe suit. "He smiled at her a little sadly, "I know my record is not exactly perfect and …well, you know everything there is to know about that, but I just ask that you give me a chance here Betty. That, and that you be patient with me. This is not exactly known ground for me."

"But you want to try?" She searched him with her eyes, trying to find the truth.

"Hell, yes. I want to try. I'm not saying I'm not weird out by it Betty, because I am. It caught me by surprise to tell you the truth. Before Sophia I never thought I'd go there in my life, didn't think I had it in me. But you changed me, you forced me to see things, people in a different way. I don't think Sophia would have been successful at her little scheme before you arrived in my life, it would never had occurred to me that I could want to be with just one woman before. I very much want to try because you started me on the path I'm now on and I want to see where you can lead me to. I like who I am better than who I used to be and I trust you to know where you want us, me, to go."

She blinked out the moisture in her eyes, "Wow Daniel, that's an awful lot of trust." She smiled at him and squeezed his hand, "I don't think there's a girl on the planet who could say no to this kind of declaration, least of all me!"

He smirked at her with tenderness, "Good to know I haven't lost my special touch!"

She punched him on the shoulder with a short laugh, "Oh, you!"

"If you intend to man haul me, then I've earn the right to defend myself." He grabbed her by the waist and drew her to him slowly with laughter in his eyes.

"And now that you caught me, what do you intend to do with me, Mr. Meade?" she teased him.

"Keep you there for all time?" His head was leaning in for a kiss and her eyes were closing when she saw the flash of light on something metallic and heard the scream of "GUN! GET DOWN!!"

With sheer desperate instinct, she pushed Daniel with all her might, heard the shot and felt her body spasm almost simultaneously. She felt herself fall in slow motion but could not understand why she could no longer stand, she was not hurt, she did not feel anything. Daniel was on the floor, looking at her with wide stricken eyes, going wider by the second. He opened his mouth, moved it, but if he talked, she could not hear, there was a strange roar in her ears that was unlike anything she had ever heard and it was getting louder…then the pain suddenly exploded in her chest and she finally ended her long slow fall to the floor with the impact on it being the last thing she registered before her world went completely, utterly dark.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre. May such a thing never, ever happen again and may their courage and memory never leave us.

"Many that live deserve death. Many that die deserve life …. The only thing we can do is to decide what to do with the time that is given to us." –Gandalf, The fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the rings.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews…you rock!

Well, this is the end. I've enjoyed sharing this story with all of you. A huge thanks to Jen my beta and to all of you who took the time to take a look at my poor attempt at English literature. I wish you all a great, warm summer filled with fun and laughter. I still have a couple of ideas I'm working on for Ugly Betty stories so you might see me around the place this summer…or you might not…depending on how busy I'll be. Ciao and au revoir for now!

**Chapter six: 'Til death do us part**

Daniel was standing in front of the window, looking out in the night at the shadows of the New York skyscraper in the distance without really seeing them. His reflection on the glass looked back at him with haggard, bleary eyes that did not give a shit for once about his disheveled appearance. He looked like hell and he knew it, but it was the last thing on his mind right now. He could not, dared not, close his eyes for when he did the only thing he was seeing was Betty slowly going down with blood splattering the front of her brand new suit. So, he tried his best to stay awake, and did everything in his power to resist reliving the nightmare of the few hours following the shooting in the court house.

In fact, he had soon discovered that his mind had found a way to protect itself and that he did not remembered so much about what happened. Only flashes of images and sounds really like people shouting, the ambulance, his hands red with her blood, the near fight with the hospital orderly that refused to let him see her before she went in surgery because he was not family... Fortunately, Mr. Suarez had appeared out of nowhere to explain to them that Betty would want him there. Daniel did not even remember calling the Suarez family to tell them the news. Nor did he remember washing the blood off his hands and getting a hospital gown to put over his pants to replace his blood covered shirt. He had lost his suit blazer somewhere in all this although he did not know how or why. The only thing he really remembered was the torturous long wait along with a white face Mr. Suarez, a crying Hilda, and an unnaturally calm and silent Justin. He thought that Santos had appeared in the waiting room at one point or another, but he could not be sure. He'd been told that some people from Mode had been there also and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't know; he could only remember the despair that threatened to swallow him and the dim hope that kept him there, waiting. Nothing else was real, nothing else existed, but hope was the only thing that made sense. The hope that still lingered, a little bit stronger every hour that passed the hope that kept him here, at Betty's side in this stark white hospital room.

He turned around to face the bed and anxiously took an inventory of the signs that proved without a doubt that she was still alive, still breathing, still there with him. The monitor was beeping at regular interval; the spikes showing her heart rate were steady for now, her chest was moving and a reassuring hiss that sometimes came out of her as she took a breath in. She was alive but nothing was yet sure and he could not help the dark fear that took him every time he saw her lying so still and white in that bed, hooked on all sides to machines. She should not be there, she should be moving with unbound energy, smiling at everything and everyone with enthusiasm and trust, kissing him with that sweet urgency and emotion that made his whole body react…Daniel tried to keep the emotions which suddenly were trying to break the dam of shock that enveloped him so far as to protect him from the guilt that was threatening to shred him apart. He could not look at any of the Suarez family in the face, and he wasn't sure he would be able to look at Betty either if she ever recovered from this…"_No! Not if, when she recover! You have to believe that she will_" he told himself sternly control himself. If he let his emotions break lose right now, he would not be able to be strong for Betty, he would only want to crawl into a dark corner and drink himself into a stupor while cursing himself for having bring this on onto her and her family.

He took a few shallow breaths, allowing himself to calm down, but incapable of stopping his mind from groping the inescapable truth. He knew that the bullet had been meant for him and if Betty had not reacted the way she had, he would have taken it right through the heart. He had been facing Betty, his back had been to the crowd, when she pushed him down he had felt the bullet whistle just an inch over his shoulder by his left ear. She had taken the bullet full impact; it broke two of her ribs, put a hole in her right lung, shattered and encased itself in her shoulder blade. There had been no exit wound; the blood had gone into her lung threatening to make her drown in her own blood. Her heart had stopped in the ambulance. That moment would forever be in his mind as the one where he had started to pray again. He would never forget the horror, the blood, the controlled panic in the movements of the medics, the sound of the siren and the few low curses of the driver. Those ten seconds were the longest of his life but in the end, she had come back. She had saved his life and almost died because the way she had always try to help him without a thought to her own needs, desires, or dignity, all just because she cared for him. It was more than just humbling, it was downright scary. He was not good enough for her, that he had always known, but right now it felt like loving him might get her killed and he knew he could never forgive himself if she died. He still did not know who had tried to kill him or why and frankly he did not care. The shooter was in prison where he belonged, and Daniel was here with Betty where he too belonged. Now, the only thing that mattered was for her to come out of this, whole in body and soul.

A groan made him turn his eyes to the side of the bed where Betty's father was sprawled uncomfortably, drowsing in a chair. The entire Suarez family had been incredible through it all, coming together, praying, and never stopping believing that Betty would be all right. They had even taken some time to take care of him. Mr. Suarez was the one who had made sure that Daniel would be allowed to stay at Betty's side as much as he wanted to, but of course, as Daniel had adamantly decided to pay for everything; the hospital employees were happy enough to oblige him. It was the least he could do after all. Betty was hurt because of him. He also could not bear to think of her fighting for her life in a cramped, overpopulated room…no, he wanted her in a large, single room where everyone who cared for her could come and see her. He wanted to be able to stay at her side and put well-wishers' cards, flowers, and balloons on her nightstand. He wanted her to wake up and sit in bed and be able to see the sun rise through the big window, but most of all, he wanted her to wake up and see that she was not alone, that her family and himself were here to look out for her. Nobody should wake up in a hospital bed and find no one waiting for them, least of all his Betty.

Daniel sighed and sat down on the chair on the opposite side of the bed from Mr. Suarez and took Betty's hand in his. Her family had not put any blame on him so far for what had happened. Daniel was not sure that they were aware yet that he had been the target and that Betty had saved him. He dared not tell them, just as he could barely look at them for shame. What if they blame him and barred him from seeing Betty? He could not risk it right now, especially since losing their faith and friendship would almost be as bad as losing Betty. They had always made him feel welcome among them and had always acknowledged the special bond between him and Betty. With the Suarezes, he had discovered what a real family was supposed to be like. He did not want to lose that; he cherished the feeling of being part of their world.

Holding Betty's hand, he looked at her face and wished for the millionth time that she would open her eyes. The doctors said that if she made it through the night, there was a good chance of complete recovery. In a low voice he pleaded with her, despair fighting with hope, calling her back, coaxing, pleading, demanding, "Come on Betty, come back to me. We all need you, me more than anyone else. You've never let me down; I know you won't start now… It's just…I'm lost if you're not there, you know that. I miss you... You're the only one who seems to see something worthwhile in me so if you're not there, I'll have nothing better to do than make sure to be as disappointing as everybody think me to be, to be what everyone but you see in me; a playboy and an insensitive jerk. You're the reason I try to be more…so you see, you don't have a choice, really, it's either you come back and make something out of me and save countless girls' hearts or you'll have all my bad behavior on your conscience. I'm sure you don't want that, do you? "His voice broke a little; it was so unnatural to talk to Betty without getting any reaction from her. She was usually so vibrant, so alive. He sat on the bed, needing to be closer. "Come on Betty, come on…don't do this to me, please. Open your eyes, there are things, important things I need to tell you, and I want to see your eyes when you hear them. It's just no fun otherwise. You'll like it, I promise." Exhausted by all the emotions swirling inside him, Daniel leaned down and very slowly lowered his forehead on hers, whispering with what was left of his strength, "I want to tell you how beautiful you are, how smart and funny, how sexy... I…I want to be the one who put that wonderful smile on your lips. I want to be the one saying the things that bring that light in your eyes. I want to kiss you good night and see you blush…Betty…please, you have to live, or I'm afraid you'll leave with what's left of my soul."

Feeling empty and out of things to say, he stayed like that for a long time, finding some strength in the faint odor of her shampoo that he could still discern underneath the stronger hospital smells. He finally raised his head away from hers with a weary sigh. He felt utterly spent, empty; he had no more energy for strong emotions or thoughts. He caressed Betty's cheek with a suddenly trembling hand then tried to get his legs to support his weight as he got up, only to discover that he needed to grab the chair as the room around him started spinning. He felt a strong arm grabbing him to steady him and steer him towards the sofa at the other end of the room. "Easy,son. Go slowly." The room stopped turning long enough for Daniel to recognize that Mr. Suarez was awake and was helping him to get his bearing. "Sorry to have awakened you, Mr. Suarez. I'm okay now. You don't have to take care of me. Really." Ignacio only snorted. "Nonsense, Daniel. You haven't slept or eaten in over fourteen hours. It's almost dawn. Here, sit down and eat this at least." Daniel felt something being put in his hand and out of habit, looked down at it. It was cookies, Ignacio's special homemade cookies. Daniel usually couldn't keep his hands off them, but right now just the thought of food was repulsive. "Eat up Daniel. I know you don't feel hungry but it will settle your stomach. You'll feel better afterward." Daniel did not think that anything but Betty suddenly waking up could make him feel better but he didn't have enough energy to fight the issue, so he took a tentative bite. The succulent cookie tasted like sawdust, and Daniel immediately accepted the cup of water that Ignacio handed him. Under the stern eyes of the older man, Daniel dutifully ate all three cookies and did feel somewhat steadier after that.

Seeing the color slowly getting back on Daniel's face, Ignacio nodded and smiled a little before gently slapped his cheeks twice and urging, "Now you get some sleep, I'll stay with Betty." Daniel immediately reacted strongly at the suggestion, "No! I can't sleep! What if she wakes up? What if…what if she gets worse? I need to be there for her." Ignacio put a restraining hand on the young man shoulder to keep him from standing. "Daniel, don't be a fool, you're dead on your feet. Betty won't be happy if she wakes up and sees how badly I've taken care of you. She'll need you awake and strong, not half dead." Cutting Daniel's words of strong opposition with a gesture before the words were even out, Ignacio continued, raising his voice slightly in admonition, "I swear, I'll wake you up if there's any change at all. If her breathing changes, if she cough, if her eyelids move ... I'll wake you up if the doctors come to check on her, if they take another test…anything! Just get some sleep! "Betty's father pushed Daniel down steadily until the young man was stretched on the sofa, while never stopping arguing that he would rather stay up and keep an eye on Betty, but the truth was that the cookies had settled him and exhaustion was taking its toll. In a last half-hearted attempt to soften the old man, Daniel tried bargaining, "Okay, okay, I'll try to sleep if you promise to wake me every hour. Come on…every hour, I want to know everything that's going on!"

Suddenly, at the other side of the room came a weak and unexpected voice, "Could you guys stop arguing so loud? Sheesh Daniel, really, just go to sleep already."

The two men looked at each other in shock before sprinting to the bed as one. Betty was indeed awake, looking at them with a fuzzy awareness. "Betty!! Thank God!" Ignacio took his daughter's hands with tears swelling in his eyes. Daniel could only look at her open eyes, a relief so strong crashing on him that he had to sit down on the chair he had vacated only minutes before. She was okay, she was awake. Daniel could barely grip the fact after the hours of praying for this to happen. He had to tell everyone, tell them that she was okay! Suddenly energized, he shot to his feet, "I'll go tell the nurse!" he announce to the room at large and ran to the door and into the corridor, sprinting toward the nurse station. He almost collided with a young nurse and gripping her, twirled her in the air while she let out a small scream of surprise, "Betty's awake! She's alive! She'll be all right!" He kissed the nurse on the cheek and setting her down, continued his mad dash to tell the head nurse the good news.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The world was pain, all around her the walls of it could not stop pounding into her, stronger and stronger all the time and she only wanted to retreat back further into the void of dark soothing blackness where she wouldn't feel. The only problem was that even the dark void was starting to move about in rhythm with the pounding in the world, slowly starting to fray and letting in some light and sounds from out there…out there where the pain came from. She tried to hide from it for a while in the darkest corners, but she knew it was only a question of time. Then, she started understanding some of the sounds coming in from the grey places…they were voices. Voices that she thought she could recognized if only she could hear them better. There was something in those voices…something that beckoned to her. Curiosity slowly overcame the instinct to hide from the pain, and she cautiously approached the closest patch of lighter darkness surrounding her. The voices were clearer here, so full of life and emotions that she felt them like thousands of knife cutting through her, making her feel something different than pain. Scared and trembling she bolted back from the voices, it hurt too much! It took her awhile to calm down but the voices had cut through the fuzziness protecting her, she could understand some of it now, there was a feeling that seemed attached to the single sound that now resonated throughout the dark places of the world. "Betty". The feeling connected to the word and suddenly her mind opened up and embraced its meaning…she knew again who she was. "I am Betty". The feeling coming with the name was one of wonder and joy. Armed and protected with the knowledge of herself, she closed again on the grey spot that was slowly getting bigger and whiter…she could almost hear what the voices were saying. That particular voice there, it sounded familiar somehow. Like a voice she had heard often in her dreams. She carefully edged further, she wanted to know that voice, it was beautiful and soulful and it seemed to know her. She wanted to learn what the voice knew about her, she was sure she could be more than just a name in the dark.

She stopped under the beam of light gray, here that voice was strong. It enveloped her in its sweetness and its harsh pain. Slowly, painstakingly, she recognized and labeled the emotions that it carried with it; tenderness, caring, hope, strength, faith, trust were dancing through her, hand in hand with self-loathing, fear, despair, hurt, pain, lies, need… it was a strange mixture, a curious taste. It was one that painted in her mind the image of a complex design, one that was strangely familiar. She strained to take it all in, to complete the puzzle. That voice was important somehow, she had to understand if she wanted to find the rest of herself. Little by little the colors came together; the image became clearer and the sounds sharper. The emotions around her became stronger, the taste lingered on her tongue, the smell caught at her heart…she opened her eyes wide as it suddenly came to her all at once. "Daniel!!!!"

The words and their meaning exploded around her and destroyed the darkness in a flash of terrible light that blinded her with pain. She tried to swim to the surface of the twirling light trying to simultaneously engulf her and throw her out. She could see the calmer realm of steady white just over her, she reached out…

…and suddenly found herself blinking owlishly at a white ceiling. A single sniff told her what she needed to know; she was in a hospital. She blinked again and the images of the darkness receded to a place where it only seemed a strange dream. She blinked a third time and the distant sounds of whispers morphed into words she could understand. It took some concentration but she soon had the gist of the half hushed argument between her father and Daniel. God she was hurting everywhere. Couldn't they let her rest? She wasn't sure why she was in a hospital but she knew she could do with some drugs and a lot of sleep. After a while she couldn't resist anymore and her natural instinct to take charge took over, and she intervened in the argument, telling Daniel to get some rest. Really, he was worst than a kid who didn't want to go to bed! Urg! And she really, really wanted something for the pain!! Even the soft hands of her father were bringing her pain. It felt like her nerves were working double time after her time in limbo.

A few nurses soon entered and started taking blood, checking machines, pushing bright light in her eyes and so on…one started asking her silly questions. Of course she knew her name, her birth day and her home address! Of course she recognized her father and Daniel! Of course she knew what year it was! Really! The next question however took her by surprise.

"What is the last thing you remember?"

She frown a bit, trying to get her mushy and tired mind to work around the pain. "Heu…Ow! It would be easier to remember if my skull stopped feeling like the inside of a big drum!"

Daniel pushed his way by her side, took her hand while sending a dark look toward the nurse. "She's in pain, shouldn't you be giving her some medication instead of torturing her like that?!"

The nurse stood her ground, facing down Daniel without hesitation, "I'm not giving her anything unless we know exactly what her condition is. We wouldn't want to give her the wrong thing and make it worse now, do we?"

Betty gave Daniel's hand a squeeze and sighted, "Okay, then…hum…I remember breakfast, Dad, Hilda and Justin were gone like every Saturday morning….I remember the newspaper I was reading…. There was something in there, something I didn't like. Hum…I…I remember shopping at Macy's for some kind of clothing, but it's kind of vague…I remember there was a lot of people there and I…I think I was talking on the phone with someone. "

Daniel smiled at her in encouragement. "That's right Betty; I called you on your cell. We talked together for a while." He turned to the nurse, "You see, she remembers…isn't it enough?" He was dreading the moment where she would remember the shooting and remember that he had been the target. To his utter disappointment, the nurse just shook her head and smiled apologetically at her patient. "I'm sorry; we have to know if there is some kind of brain damage. Beside the physiological injuries, there could be some psychological ones, you need to remember what brought you here and it has to be as soon as you wake up or your mind might decide to forget permanently to protect itself, to shut it off and that usually causes more problems…the kind that needs psychotherapy to solve. Believe me, it's better this way."

Betty looked grim at the idea that some sort of trauma was responsible for her condition…she was suddenly not so sure she wanted to know. She looked at everyone around her and took a deep breath, trying to wake up her memory. "Okay. Steps… I remember steps for a big building, a formal kind of building, something public like a library maybe, or a museum …no wait, that's not it. Hum….Yeah…something to do with police, journalists…judges…justice…Yeah, that's it, the court of justice! I remember going there for some kind of hearing. The press was there and Daniel too." She paused for a moment, gathering her memories, pushing onward. " We stood there in the corridor, talking, then something happened…a shout, then I looked and there was this woman, standing with a gun…pointing it…Oh my God! She was pointing it right at us…." Her hand flew instinctively over her right breast. "She shot me!!! I remember…I pushed Daniel and then…then nothing, I can't remember anything else. I don't even remember the pain. I…I saw Daniel on the floor and I remember that I fell, but I didn't, you know, feel anything."

Betty looked around again and saw Hilda and Justin who had came in during her trip down memory lane, crying with both shock at her story and happiness at seeing her alive and aware. Her dad was looking at her with big round eyes, going back between Daniel and her, and Daniel… Daniel was looking anywhere but at her and her family. The nurse patted her hand, "That was the hardest part, you did very well. Now I'll go see the doctor, and I'll come back in a couple of minutes with something for the pain."

The silence that met the nurse departure was shattered by Justin who almost threw himself on the bed to hug her. She hissed a little in pain but let him be, the warmth of the love her nephew was showing her was way better than the strained tension that gripped the adults around her bed.

"Daniel? Do you know anything about that shooting? Something you're not telling?" asked her father in a low voice.

Daniel shook his head slowly, "I had no idea that it was a woman, but it kind of makes sense in an ugly kind of way. I've screw up so much in the past, and probably caused some kind of pain to a lot of women." He sighted and sat on the chair near her bed. "What I knew right from the start was that the bullet was meant for me, I felt it passed me by just as I was going down, centimeters from my head. Betty saved my life, and almost lost hers in the process, all just because I had been so stupid and careless with other people's feelings for such a long time." He finally looked up and braced himself for their judgment, "You have every right to be furious at me and ask me never to set foot into your house again or see Betty. I don't know if it's possible for you to believe me after all this, but since meeting Betty and knowing you all…I've changed, I've discovered things that are more important than my selfish pleasure. You made me see what a real family was supposed to be like, and how real friends took care of each other. I'll never forget any of those lessons." He started to get up to, but Betty's voice didn't let him get very far.

"Oh …Sit back down, Daniel; nobody is blaming you for what happened." Everyone turned their eyes on Betty, white and tired in the bed. She was not in the mood for melodrama.

"How can you say that, Betty?" An anguished Daniel cried out, "It's my fault you're in that bed with a hole in you. It's my fault you died in the ambulance!! Your heart stopped, I saw them restart it. For almost ten seconds there you were gone! I don't care if the women I hurt come back to haunt me and get their revenge, they have a right to do it! I screwed up and it's pay back time. But I will not take you down with me. It's not fair to you; you shouldn't have to pay for my mistakes. I have no right to ask that of you, of any of you."

"Really Daniel, the woman might be one of your past flings, or she might not, but whatever else she was, one thing is sure: she was visibly very unstable, I don't think she was sane, Daniel. I saw her eyes; there was nothing there but rage and illusions. I think it's way to soon to start pointing fingers. Besides, you saved my life too. So we're even."

Daniel could only look at her, speechless. She was giving him a reprieve from hell, giving him a reason to hope that this time, maybe, it was not his fault. What the hell was she talking about?

It was Hilda who asked the question, he could not utter a word. "How did he save your life, Betty? From where I'm standing, he put it in danger, not saved it!"

"He called me back. I don't remember much of where I was during all that time, but I do know that it's Daniel's voice that made me want to come back. I could not exactly understand the words, but I understood their meaning." She turned to Daniel and extended her hand toward him entreatingly. "I'm so tired. You will be here when I woke up, won't you?" she pleaded. She hoped with all her heart that he would not back down, that he would come to her and leave the guilt and the fear behind, once and for all.

Daniel wanted nothing more than to be there, always, for her. He casted a dubious eye in Mr. Suarez's direction, unsure as to how the older man would react, but Ignacio didn't move or say a word. Tentatively, Daniel took a step toward Betty and grasped her hand like a lifeline during a storm. He looked into her eyes and just forgot about everything but her.

"Of course I'll be there, Betty, if you want me here then there's nothing that could prevent me from being here with you. I love you. I'm so sorry you were hurt." There was no more space for doubt in his heart, not after seeing her die in front of him. He needed to tell her how he felt; he might not get another chance.

Just like he had hoped and dreamed she would in answer to his confession, her smile lit up her entire face, her eyes sparkled with emotion and pleasure and her good arm slowly sneaked around his neck, bringing him closer. "That's good. I love you too, Daniel. Don't worry about anything, everything will be just fine." The kiss they shared then was the most sweet, delicate, loving kiss they both had ever experienced and melted the rest of the anger that Ignacio Suarez harbored toward the young Meade. The anger was mostly a reaction to the fear of losing Betty, and not so much against Daniel. He kind of liked him if truth be told. It did not look like he had much chance to go against it anyway, not if that kiss was any indication.

He sighted in happy defeat and took hold of Daniel's shoulder as soon as the two lovebirds separated. "Come on son, you both need to sleep, you can take the sofa." He could not help but smile at the surprise, relief and joy showing in both Betty and Daniel's face.

Hilda then turned Daniel around and kissed him soundly in the cheek. "Welcome in the family Daniel. I think you'll do."

Not wanted to be forgotten, Justin piped in, "Yeah, especially if it means I can go visit you at Mode more often!"

Through peals of laughter coming from their family, Betty and Daniel fell into sleep as soon as their head touched a horizontal surface, with smile on their face and happiness in their soul the like of they could not have imagined feeling just weeks before.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The END

Fluffy, I know. Hope you liked it still!


End file.
